Daryl and Rebecca
by wellficme
Summary: Daryl D/OC short story. Daryl meets a cute girl on the run and spends a single night with her. Months later, fate or chance reunites them. Story is split, set before season 1 and between seasons 2 and 3, working with TWD storyline. Rated M for adult content and erotic literature. [anon review - I love it already! Please update quickly :)! ]
1. Chapter 1

_This story is set somewhere around day 40 of the global outbreak, a couple of weeks before Rick joins the party at the quarry. __Daryl/OC short story. Adult content._

_I do not own The Walking Dead or it's characters._

"Fuck!" The expletive hitched out of her dry throat at the sharp pain in her ankle. But she didn't stop. She couldn't stop. She couldn't even slow her lightning pace, or she was dead.

Cutting through the trees, as fast as any human has ever run for their life, she had a near-miss with a hidden, smooth rock. It almost took her down, but she recovered at the expense of her now screaming ankle. Her breath coming in short, hot pants, she kept her eyes ahead and kept moving. Her peripherals keeping her informed of the amassing number of dead, hot on her heals. More and more staggering numbers moving out from behind trees. The hungry looking for their next meal.

So many now. The world was being outweighed and out numbered by the walking corpses of once loved friends and family members. Their putrid breath steaming from their gnashing mouths. Rotted bodies frantically chasing their primal urge to eat. Eat us.

Sprinting through the semi-dense forest around her, as best anyone could on a fucked up ankle, the only direction in mind is away from the pack of dead chasing behind her. Chasing her in their ragged and raging fashion.

Anything. Anywhere. All she could see was trees. The sky above her broke. It had been threatening to do so all day and now was the moment the clouds decided to open on her. The rain came hard, like someone had burst open a pipe, cutting though the stifling summer air. Big heavy rain drops fell on her head like stones.

Chancing a glance over her shoulder, through the drops on her eyelashes, she caught sight of another moving body. Not a corpse, another living human. The man was moving at her same break-neck speed (though she noted with significantly more grace). Her eyes darted between her path and the man beside her, looking to see if he had any clue where they were headed. His eyes caught hers and he raised his wet arm to point in a direction across from her, at her 2 o'clock. She followed his gesture and saw a clearing. With an actual direction in mind, her body lifted at the proverbial 'light at the end of the tunnel'. Her feet quickened, and her and the man moved towards the thinned out trees. The man now at her back, his breathe coming out in hot panting waves at her neck, moved so he was on her heels. Letting her guide the way through the woods around them, as he kept his strong eyes on the look out for their predators.

That old feeling of dread crept into her stomach as they approached the tree line. The trees ended because they had come to a cut away. The future building sight below them, cleared of trees and scraped back of dirt, left a steep cliff (for lack of a better term) at their feet. Her pace slowed as her eyes searched for a way to the ground below. The man at her back, hardly hesitated at the sight before him. He moved to her side, still behind her, and put his large hands around her waist with an arm wrapped around her lower back. She turned her head with wide eyes to him but not even getting to make the eye contact she need to convey her message of "Don't you fucking push me!". His pace didn't even slow as he dragged them both over the edge.

His body pushed hard against hers, keeping them both upright as they half ran-half slid through the loose dirt and muddying clay of the cliff face. Still being upright gave her a moment of clarity, that maybe her fear of falling had made her misjudge the hillside as being much steeper than it was.

Their feet hit the sudden change from sloppy hillside to solid ground with a thud. Their speed crumpled them into a wet heap at the ground at the bottom. Getting to his feet first, he grabbed at her arm with a vice grip and wretched her to her feet. Her stabbing ankle making her stumble forward in the puddles, as they moved in the direction of a small site office, about 50 feet away. The man released her arm and ran in front of her, reaching for the crossbow slung over his shoulder and across his back. Seeing him move for his weapon instinctively moved her hand for the knife at her belt. Her pride and joy. Her one weapon in this world against an unstoppable army of dead. Releasing it from the leather sheath on her hip, she flexed her fingers around the grip and scanned her eyes around for the next skull she was going to push the long blade into.

Her confidence flamed back into her at the sight of her target. Six dead men in varying heavy duty work gear staggered from the cleared site to their right, around the building that was to be her/their safe haven from the storm and the swarm of dead in the forest behind them. Remembering her strength, she lifted her strong frame back onto her legs. She moved to the crossbow-man's left as he released bolt after bolt from his weapon into the dead moving towards them. Knife in her right hand, she moved to the small removable building on their left. The site office was blocked by a dead man in a tie and hard hat, a foreman of sorts. As the corpse moved his decaying frame towards her with mouth open and arms outstretched, she darted to the left and drove her knife up into the rotting flesh of his jaw. The dead weight dropped to the ground at her feet as she pulled her blade from his throat with a wet slick noise. She glanced over her shoulder at the man with the crossbow. He had slid his weapon back over his shoulder and was mimicking her moves with his own knife on the last two staggering workmen. She turned back to the door, up the two stairs, and reached for the handle. The wet handle slipped in her slightly shaking grip. She steadied herself and set her hand on the handle properly. It turned with some force. It's lack of use, rusting the inner workings, a good sign things were undisturbed inside. She flung the door open and turned back to the man behind her.

"Come on!" She yelled to him before her voice cut off. A cold, hard hand gripped her arm and turned her eyes back to the office as a blank-eyed corpse threw itself at her face, lunging to bite into her flesh. She threw herself away from the dead rotting teeth and fell backwards down the stairs, bring the flesh eater with her. In the same movement she brought the knife up to her eye level and braced it with two hands. The impact of the fall both knocking all the air from her lungs and forcing the face of the dead man onto the blade she clutched before her. She turned her head as the oozing brain goo leaked from the corpse's eye socket where her knife now sat, sheathed in the skull of her would-be killer.

Gasping for air to inflate her winded lungs, she struggled to release herself from under the dead weight. As creeping black stars started to bloom into her vision from the lack of air getting into her body and oxygen getting to her brain, she felt the weight of the corpse roll off of her. The rain she had been temporarily sheltered from, hit her in the face in cold heavy splashes again, as her wide eyes stared up at the heavens and took in desperate gasps of the warm wet air around her. The corpse's brain goo at her cheek was wiped roughly away by a red rag in the hand of the man crouching over her. She took in her breathes, while he cleared away the muck and then helped her sit up and get back to her knees. The rain hit her hard as she sat back on her heels in the puddles, getting that much needed oxygen moving through her again. The man standing beside her glanced around for any more attackers as she took her breaths, and then looked inside the now empty office. Being washed free of goo and some of the mud by the rain above, she moved to her feet and pulled herself up the stairs. The man behind her put a hand to her lower back and guided her inside before glancing one more time over his shoulder and closing the door behind them.

The office was just a small rectangular room with a few small high windows and a single door through which they just entered. Lightly furnished with a desk and chair, a few filing cabinets, shelves and an old couch, that had seen it's fair share of worksites, which sat across the room from the door. It was littered with some papers and other personal workspace items, obviously knocked about by the dead man they had just removed from the building. Staggering inside, she threw herself on the ground and let herself just breathe while crossbow-man set himself against the filing cabinets and pushed them, one at a time, in front of the door.

After the second one was in place, barricading the door, he slid down the wall beside it and caught his own breath. From her spot on the floor, she turned her face towards him and now finally got her first proper look at the man she was holed up with. He sat with his back against the wall and his knees up in front of him. His crossbow now idle on the floor beside him as he rest his head on his forearms, which were crossed over his knees, hiding his face. Just as covered in mud as she was and taking steady heavy breaths, he wore faded jeans and steel-capped boots, the new uniform of the surviving few, as she called it. His wet sleeveless t-shirt clinging to him, that faded browny colour that could once have been red or even white, but was now permanently changed thanks to the new laundry techniques reintroduced from, what felt like, the dark ages. His dark, short-cropped mess of hair, wet from the storm dripped slowly down his hard arms and onto the floor between his feet. He lifted his head and met her eyes with a sharp but tired gaze. She suddenly realised she had been staring at him for the past few minutes now.

Rolling to her side, she sat up. She shuffled to a few feet in front of him and sat cross legged.

"Rebecca." She croaked at him as her voice cut off and she extended her hand to shake his. He regarded her for just a moment before wiping his hand on his jeans and returning the gesture.

"Daryl." He replied in a southern gruff voice. A short shake and their hands both dropped, returning to their own laps.

Her dry throat closed on her as her mind suddenly went blank, trying to conjure up what she should say next. 'Thank you', 'Got anything to drink', 'How about this weather', 'So, end of the world huh?' she could say a lot but nothing would pass her lips, so she ended up just sort of looking blank. Putting it down to pure physical and mental exhaustion she pulled her eyes away from his and sheepishly ran a hand up into her wet loose braid. Her go-to move in awkward situations.

She turned away from him and moved to stand on her legs. Feeling as wobbly as a newborn foal, she set her jaw and forced herself to look strong, not wanting to look even more like a git in front of the guy she was locked in a box with. She turned and leaned her butt against the desk behind her, facing the open room and not the man watching her move from his spot on the floor, to her left. She pulled her hair free from the tie at the end of her hair and shook out her wet and muddied, loose plait. She ran her fingers through her long hair, pulling it all back, before securing it in a pony tail with her hair tie.

Looking around the floor in front of her, she spotted her knife near the foot of the couch, opposite the door. She stepped forward and picked it up, wiping it on her jeans she caught the eye again of the man watching her. He seemed to tense up when she picked it up, but relaxed again (well sort of relaxed in his intense sort of way) when she pushed it into the sheath on her belt.

Rebecca suddenly realised she was trapped in a small box with a man she didn't know and a bunch of weapons and no one else around except for the walking dead from the forest behind them.

"You aren't like a rapist or anything are you?" She cringed at her own words realising how stupid they were and wishing she could catch them in the air and stuff them back into her stupid fucking mouth.

"No, I ain't a rapist." He said with a incredulous sneer on his mouth, spitting out that last word like it left a foul taste in his mouth.

"Uh… Yeah… I realised that." She back peddled as fast as she could, shaking her head at herself. "If you were, you probably would have…um… tried something already, I guess. I'm sorry." She replied.

He let out a huff of breath and looked around the small space around them. He pushed himself to his feet and moved to behind the desk. Rebecca's eyes followed him around with interest as he started looking around through the draws of the desk. He had broad shoulders and a set of arms on him that made her legs quake in a way that had nothing to do with how exhausted she was. She realised she was staring again, so she pushed herself away from the desk and sat down on the couch near her, looking at her feet, looking at the wall, looking at anything to keep her eyes off of him.

He finished pawing through the draws and turned to his right. He noticed a small bar fridge under a stack of knocked over folders and opened it. The rancid smell of old takeaway and yogurt had him slam it shut again as his eyes watered at the odour. He ripped it open again and shut it just as quick. Daryl stood up and put two bottles of water on the desk beside him. He lifted his eyes to the girl, who was looking at her shoes with a stunning amount of interest, and clicked his tongue at her. Getting her attention, he tossed one of the bottles of water to her with a short nod of his head. She smiled back at him, with a nod of her own as thanks, and cracked the bottle open. He watched her as she bought the bottle to her lips and took short gulps of the water. He bit at the inside of his cheek and slid his eyes down her body. She was strong looking, and tall for a girl. Maybe athletic, maybe not, with softly tanned skin. She wore straight leg faded jeans that tucked into her muddied boots. A grey t-shirt that fit her loosely, but just right. Her height came from her long legs and firm posture. She had feminine soft dark eyes and long dark hair that, in the pony tail, fell to the middle of her back. Not exactly practical in this world, but the thought of it brushing down her naked back heated his blood and gave him twinges in the front of his jeans. He dropped his eyes to his own bottle of water, and cracked the lid as he felt the heat rising in his cheeks. Turning his back to her he drank his water and started riffling through the piles of crap on the shelving behind the desk.

He found some candles next to a photo in a frame of a woman and another of some kids. Clearly the foreman's wife's idea at changing that familiar musty smell that accumulates in a site office, they were scented. A candle is a candle. At least they won't be waiting out the night in the dark.

Happy with his find, Daryl turned around saw Rebecca taking off her boots and rolling her ankle around, a soft wince on her face as she turned her foot left to right.

"Y'all righ'?" He asked as he put the candles on the desk. Taking a step around the bench top, he moved in her direction.

"Uh… yeah. …It's ok." She stumbled at the words. She hadn't realised Daryl was watching her. She rolled her ankle around again and forced a smile to her face which ended up being more of a grimace.

He nodded and stepped back again, now leaning against the desk as Rebecca had earlier, looking at his own shoes with feigned interest and biting at the nail on the side of his thumb.

"So… are you out here by yourself?" Rebecca asked, the question coming out a bit squeakier than she hoped it would.

"Yeah, …sorta." He faulted at his own words. "I was out huntin' by m'self. But I'm with a bunch a people at a quarry." He lifted his eyes to meet hers. "'bout you?"

"Um, yep alone. I was driving and stopped at a car abandoned on the road to get some fuel before a long drive. And while I was out, I got cut off from my car by a whole bunch of Dead that hit me at once." She shrugged. "Had to bolt. That's pretty much where you found me."

"We were 'bout 5 miles from a road. Yeh musta been goin' for a while." He said with a furrowed brow.

Rebecca shrugged again, speaking out the side of her mouth. "Sounds about right." She shifted in her seat on the couch. "Where are you from?" She asked casually, thankful that the conversation was getting easier and the tension not being so high in their small space.

"Not far outta Atlanta. You?" He asked, lifting his eyes to meet hers.

"Uh, I'm from Nevada. I came here to find my brother." She smiled a little as she noticed Daryl's shoulders drop a fraction and relax a bit himself. She continued the conversation. "He was a doctor working at the refuge centre in Atlanta." She watched Daryl's mouth twitch at the corner as he resumed biting the inside of his cheek, his eyes dropped and his face turned into an expression that could be his version of pity. Realising what made his face drop, she added "Oh, I know they napalmed Atlanta. I already found that out myself." She grimaced and looked at her hands, her fingers laced together with her palms up. "I also found out that they split the doctor service between Atlanta and Fort Benning. So that is my next stop." She shrugged her shoulders and lifted her eyes back to Daryl.

"I got a brother." He nodded his head at her, understanding that she knew her search was futile, but she still had to try.

She grimaced to herself and shook her head. "Next subject…" She looked around the room. "Tell me about yourself."

….

The sun was down and after another shuffle around some draws and cabinets, Daryl had found the foreman's secret stash. A packet of Doritoes and a half full small flask of, what he happily recognised as, Jack Daniels. Both with their boots off to try to dry out their socks and shoes, Rebecca and Daryl sat, in candlelight, on the old, under-stuffed couch and shared their 'dinner'. Passing the flask back to the girl beside him, he asked her about something he had noticed earlier.

"That the only ink you got?" He nodded at her turned out hand as she wrapped her long fingers around the flask.

"No." She replied with a smirk as her eyes flicked to the small butterfly she had on the inside of her middle finger. She smiled inwardly at the thought of her other tattoo and a heat rose in her cheeks. She dared a quick glance at Daryl's face beside her and was rewarded with a second wave of heat though her face. "What?" She questioned with a sheepish grin, casting her eyes away from him and back to the flask she was playing with in her hands.

"Go'on. Where is it?" He asked with a glint of mischief as he bit at the inside of his cheek.

"Do you have any?" She asked, looking back into his eyes with what she hoped wasn't too big a stupid grin on her face.

"Yeah… Show ya mine, if ya show me yers." He said in a soft voice. Mumbling with a small smirk on his lips.

Daryl was shocked at the lines coming from his own mouth. He was never a wordsmith with women. His usual was more along the lines of sitting at the bar and letting women do all the talking. A woman would approach him, he would buy her a drink, she would run her mouth for a while and after a bit he would end up at her place, or in the bar bathroom, or the flat bed of his pickup. That was his usual. This was something else.

"I don't know, it might not be a fair trade." She blushed. "Show me yours first and I'll think about it."

His mouth changed from his smirk to biting at his thumb nail again. After a pause, Daryl slowly leaned forward on the couch and moved onto his knees in front of, but facing away from Rebecca. He put his fingers to the bottom of his sleeveless shirt and peeled it up off his body.

Before she could stop herself, Rebecca pulled in a sharp breath. Daryl's back was littered with scars. Deep and long and troubling scars that bought a watery feeling to the edge of Rebecca's eyes, but she fought it away not wanting the man to see her pity. They hardly knew each other, had only just met, yet he showed her a part of himself she could tell was deeply private. She swallowed back her tears and moved her eyes to the other mark on his back. His tattoo of two winged demons on and below his right shoulder blade. She reached forward and brushed her thumb over the black ink markings on his back. Goosebumps radiated from her touch across his skin, but he didn't move. If anything he leaned into her touch slightly. Rebecca pulled her hand back, a bit shocked at her own actions. Daryl sat back up on the couch, shirt in hand and looked at Rebecca. A piercing look that said the volumes the man didn't or couldn't say with words, as he bit at the inside of his cheek. She looked back at him with a slight quiver in her lips, causing her to suck her lips back into her mouth and wet them before letting out a soft breath. Daryl dropped his eyes back to his shirt in his hands and moved to put it back on. Rebecca shot her hand out, onto the shirt and held it as she stood up. She took it from him and dropped it on the couch where she had been sitting.

Her comment about it not being a fair trade was still true she felt, but the scales were tipped back the other way. Daryl had shown her a lot more than what she was about to show him.

Standing in front of him she unhooked her belt and unzipped the fly of her jeans. Daryl's eyes were on her actions, not moving, not breathing. She slid her jeans from her long legs and took a slightly wavering step towards Daryl, turning her hip so he could see the tattoo down her left thigh. A thin cherry blossom tree wrapped around her thigh from just above her knee to the top of her leg. In the same way Rebecca had touched Daryl's tattoo, his hand reached out before he could question his own actions. He placed his hand at the top of the tree and ran it down along the trunk to the roots that finish at her knee cap. His soft touch and his rough, calloused hand brought a sudden heat to Rebecca's body that boiled between her legs. Daryl tore his eyes away from the tattoo and met Rebecca's deep dark eyes staring back at him. The eye contact twinged something in Rebecca's throat. Her lips parted as she dropped her gaze to Daryl's mouth. She swallowed the lump in her throat and moved her face down closer to his, his mouth only a movement away. Her hands balled together against her abdomen, trying to stop the butterflies churning in her stomach as the heat rose up through her body.

Daryl's hand left her knee and joined with his other to cup her face. His heart beating so loudly in his chest it was all he could hear. His breath coming from his lips in hot heavy pants. He pushed forward and drove his mouth onto her open pouting lips. Her soft, full lips tasting so sweet as his tongue slip past them into her mouth. He slid his hands around to the back of her hair, tangling in the loose, still slightly wet, pony tail swishing behind her as she fell forward.

Her hands left her knotted stomach and braced her from her fall against Daryl's hard body. Her left hand on his chest and her right hand, his thigh. Their kiss drew the air from her lungs and left her gasping against his mouth as she righted her balance and moved her body down against his. Her right knee between his on the edge of the couch, her legs straddled his thigh as she shifted her body slightly offside to his. She tilted her head to deepen their kiss.

Daryl's hands left her hair and slid down her body, over her back, to her waist, so he could help her keep her balance. He dropped his hands to her hips and gripped her tightly, pulling her down against him.

The pressure at her sides causing a wave of heat to melt her body, her suddenly supple form rolled against his thigh, grinding herself down on his hard leg. A shiver slid up her body and came gasping from her mouth. Her sharp intake of breath coupled with a soft noise from inside her chest, broke her lips from Daryl's. The small space between their faces heated by his hot, moist breath puffing from his mouth into her face. Her eyes met his and she drove her mouth back down onto his. Her tongue slid across his teeth and met his tongue on it's way to her mouth.

A growl came from somewhere inside Daryl's sternum, as she nipped and bit hungrily at his mouth. His hands left her hips and continued their journey down her writhing body. He hooked his hands under her thighs and lifted her. Manipulating her body, he moved her thigh from between his legs to over himself, so she was straddled over his groin. He moaned into her mouth as she pushed herself down and ground against the hard erection in his lap. Daryl suddenly realised there was far too much clothing between them right now. He slid his hands from where he was kneading her thighs to the bottom of her t-shirt. She pulled back from his mouth and raised her arms as he ripped the shirt over her body and threw it away to the side.

Rebecca put her arms behind her back and unhooked the plain black cotton bra as Daryl kissed down her neck and jaw with heated nips. She cast the bra away and put her hands behind his head as his hungry, wet mouth trailed down her clavicle towards her chest. She sucked in a shuddering breath as his hot mouth found her hard nipple and the soft flesh of her mounds.

His hands had settled against her body again. One kneading her thigh, the other around her back pulling her hard against him. Her soft flesh tasting as beautiful as it looked, his mouth watering as he moved to nip her other breast. He felt her fingers grip his short hair and push his head into her chest. She then reversed it and pulled him away from her. She crushed her rolling hips down onto his hardness again as she pushed her swollen mouth to his for another deep, wet kiss.

Daryl shuddered as he felt his hard length turn to steel and his balls boil in response to her grinding movements. He pushed his mouth hard into hers and then broke away with a gasp. To her surprise, and some to his own, he lifted her off himself and half placed-half threw her to the couch beneath them. He put his hand behind her head and pulled the loose tie from her hair, letting it cascade over the couch to almost the floor. He braced himself on his left forearm while his right hand made its way down and over her body. Kneading and pulling her harder against him.

Rebecca pushed her mouth up and captured his lips in soft, wet, nippy sort of kisses. Her hands snaking between her an Daryl, where she could, to the waist of his jeans.

He felt the need in her frantic movements on his fly and broke a gap between them to look down and see her jilted actions. Her hands making messy work of his pants, and taking far to long. He pulled back from her and sat up, to the sound of a regretful squeak escaping her swollen lips. Instead of going to his pants, he wrapped his fingers around the elastic waistband of the last shred of clothing she had between him and her. He manipulated the bit of material around her behind and slid it from her legs in the air between them.

Rebecca, not knowing what to do with her hands, reached forward to Daryl's jeans, again trying to undo the button with too much haste. He swatted her hands away with a smirk to her shocked expression and undid the button and fly himself with ease. Rebecca sat up, captured Daryl with her arms around his broad back, and pulled him back towards her. Using her feet she pushed his loose jeans and underwear down his thighs to his knees.

Daryl crushed his mouth again to Rebecca's as his hard length slid against her wet, hot centre. A shudder running through him, bucking his hips against hers. Left hand bracing himself on the couch over her, his right hand slid under her butt and lifted her thigh over his hip, opening her up to him. He broke their kiss and looked into Rebecca's dark wet eyes. Her need for him screaming in her eyes and echoing in the hands that were pawing at his back and shoulders. He watched her expression change from that of need, to one of soft bliss. A hissing noise escaping from her throat as he pushed himself forward into her. Her velvet, slick folds resisting his invasion but quickly subsiding as he pushed harder. He withdrew as she convulsed beneath him.

Rebecca lifted her other leg to his hips and wrapped herself around him, trying to hold onto him as the world fell away from behind her. His hard length stretched her core in the best kind of way. Her hands scratch at his back and she bucked her hips to meet his long hard strokes as he pushed back into her, and again.

Daryl's pace quickened as need surpassed his desire to draw this out as long as he could. His arms wrapped around behind Rebecca as he put his weight on his forearms. Pushing her thighs up against her body, he pushed harder and faster into her. This wasn't going to take long. He felt her arms grip around his shoulders at the same time her inner walls began to tighten around his cock. With each stroke inside her, he sensed a tightening of a coil, ready to spring forward with her orgasm. Hoping that she was going to get there first, he dropped his head to her neck and began feasting and lathing his lips on her rapidly beating pulse.

His mouth to her jaw sent a lightning bolt through her body. The rhythm she had with Daryl's thrusts, went off the rails as she rocked and bucked beneath him. The wave that had been threatening to wash her away crashed inside her like a tsunami. Her body writhed and she gasped. Her orgasm rippled through her body like electric eels as Daryl's strokes suddenly became frantic and uncontrolled.

"Fuck." He growled, hot in her ear. Her body still rolled beneath him, riding out her orgasm as he shuddered to his own, hard, inside her. His hips shook wildly as hers kept bucking with a mind of their own.

Their breathing slowed together as he rested his weight on top of her. His heart beating so hard she could feel it out thumping her own in her own chest. Their sweat slicked bodies wrapped tightly against each other. With Daryl's face buried into her neck and ear, Rebecca's legs quaked uncontrollably from her dissipating orgasm. She drew her fingers slowly up and down his back and his breathing softened into her clavicle.

Not wanting to, but knowing they were going to have to break away at some point, Daryl lifted his head and his weight from Rebecca's body that was sandwiched between him and the old couch. He felt her shudder as his softened cock slid from her sensitive core. His arms still beneath her, he pulled her up just a fraction and met her swollen lips with a soft kiss. She puffed a half breath into his face when his lips left hers. A rosy glow colouring her cheeks to match her red lips. Her glazed eyes met his and a spark flew between them, waking her from her post-orgasm daze. She sighed in his arms and tightened her grip where her hands had settled on his biceps. She blinked and smiled at his satisfied smirk. He leaned away from her and grabbed on to her wrists, pulling her to a sitting position as he kneeled back on the couch between her legs. Her hair fell to her back and some spilled around her shoulders to her cover her breasts. She moved her legs from around Daryl's hips on the couch to the floor beside her.

With another deep sigh, she used what little strength she had in her bones to pull herself up. She walked on shaky legs to the box of tissues on the shelf behind the desk. Pulling a few from the box she wiped up the cum, hers and Daryl's, from between her legs. Binning the tissues in the waste paper basket on it's side under the desk, she caught Daryl's eyes as he was hitching his jeans up from where they had been around his knees. A weird expression flitted across his features as he turned his face away, back to his shirt, that had been under Rebecca the whole time. She walked back to her clothes, which had travelled a lot further than Daryl's, and began picking the bits and pieces up from everywhere around them, tossing them onto the couch.

A weird vibe filled the room and settled in amongst the smell of sex. Rebecca frowned at the turned away form of Daryl putting his shirt back on. She climbed back into her underwear and bra and stood with her hands on her hips facing him, waiting for him to turn around.

He felt her eyes on his back and turned around. A darker expression troubling his face, as he chewed the inside of his cheek.

"What?" She asked curtly, getting a bit pissed at the weirdness that had suddenly clouded the fucking awesome experience they had just shared.

He twitched a bit at the question, clearly not know the words he needed.

"What?" Rebecca asked again, a bit less harsh with softer eyes on him.

"We didn't just…" He cut off. "You ain't gonna get …pregnant or anything are ya?"

The odd words, or maybe the way he said it, made a small laugh escape her throat. His expression softened a bit at the sound of her laughter, but was clearly confused.

"Sorry, I shouldn't laugh." She giggled out. "No, I'm not going to get pregnant. But thank you for caring." She walked towards him and took his hand in hers. He sensed there was a bigger story there, but didn't push for it. "Don't worry." She nodded her head at him and his features lightened as he nodded back and cleared the thought from his head.

He looked at her hand in his and gave it a squeeze before dropping it and reaching for her clothes behind her on the couch. He opened her shirt and turned it right-side-out holding it up in front of her face to put her arms in. She pushed forward into the shirt as he dragged it down her body. He cupped his hands under her butt and pulled her towards him. His mouth turned up at the corner as his gaze roved over her soft face with her thousand watt smile. He pushed a soft kiss to her lips for only a second before breaking their hold again.

Her hands slid down his shoulders from their place around his neck, and finally from his body completely. With a short sigh, she reached behind her for her jeans and her socks which had long since dried. Dressing quickly, she spared a glance over her shoulder at Daryl, who was dragging the office chair over to the high window on the wall with the door. She sat on the couch and collected herself as she watched him climb the chair and peer out the small rectangle window. After a quick look around, he seemed satisfied that they were safe for a while longer.

Daryl dropped down off the chair and picked up his discarded crossbow. He set the weapon down on the desk next to where Rebecca's knife had found itself earlier. Sitting down beside her on the couch and putting an arm comfortably around her back, he drew her into his chest. He picked up a loose length of hair and held it in front of his eyes.

"Kinda impractical ain't it?" The sound of his voice making Rebecca jump slightly.

"What? My hair?" She questioned hazily. "I like my hair."

He smirked at her reply

"Yeah, I like it too." He muttered, dropping the length behind her ear and placing a soft kiss on top of her head.

She smiled into his chest and let herself drift to sleep to the sound of his breathing and strong beating heart.

…...

Morning came with a cloudless dawn. Only the puddles they could see from the small windows around the office giving any clue that there even was a storm.

The pair had woken from sleep together when Rebecca had turned herself and dream-nuzzled her face into Daryl's neck. The smell of clean sweat, pine and cigarette smoke better than even waking up to the smell of cooking bacon.

Their position had slumped a bit during the night, but each woke, still holding the other.

Rebecca sat up and stretched her back and long legs that had been curled up beside her on the couch all night. Stiff and aching was how she woke up most mornings these days, but this morning she also had a sore spot between her legs too. The sharp feeling bringing with it a flood of memories of the hot and heavy sex from last night with the almost stranger beside her. A stranger who bought a smile to her lips as he sunk a hand into his jeans and had a morning scratch.

He wasn't a complete stranger. They had had a chat before the tattoos and scars and stripping of clothes. He was very different from her, but that didn't stop the attraction. Where she was a student of medicine and an artist and an athlete, and had had a rather privileged life up until the apocalypse, he was a man from a rough part of the world with a hard life and harder family. While they had shared a bit about each other, nothing had really scratched the surface. Despite not really knowing him or his past, looking in his eyes she saw all she needed to know.

He stood up and climbed the chair again, looking out at the littering of twice-dead corpses outside from yesterdays efforts.

"Come with me to the quarry." He stated flatly, not looking at her, knowing what her reply would be.

"I can't. My brother." She sighed.

"Yeah." He said softly as he dropped his eyes from the window, biting at the inside of his cheek.

The silence hung heavy in the air as neither knew how to proceed past the question that had already been answered.

Rebecca picked herself up from the couch and reached for her boots. She leaned against the desk, next to the crossbow, and pulled on her dry boots. Lacing them up, she watched in her peripheral as Daryl crossed his arms over his chest and chewed at the side of his thumb nail. She dropped her foot from her knee and lifted her eyes to meet his.

"I can't." She said in a soft voice that barely made it past her lips.

"I know." He whispered back as he put his arms around her shoulders and she dropped her head to his hard chest, her hands wrapped around his back.

A moment, that's all they could have in this world. A moment last night, and a moment now in each others arms.

Daryl put his hand to her chin and tilted her head back. A rough thumb wiping a weary tear from her face. He pressed his lips to hers and breathed a sigh. Holding for a moment the last kiss they would share. Feeling her soft mouth against his.

He stood up straight, pulling his mouth away from hers and turned his head away. He grabbed his crossbow and slung it over his shoulder. Moving towards the door he rubbed at his tired eyes, wiping the tickling feeling away.

Rebecca grabbed her knife and slid it back into the sheath on her belt. She helped Daryl drag the filing cabinets away from office exit, and then readied herself to return to the horrible world beyond the doorway.

"I'm at least taking ya back to yer car. Crazy woman, probably gonna git herself lost in the woods." He smirked over his shoulder. He raised his crossbow and moved down the steps with Rebecca behind him.

**This has been a Daryl D/OC one shot. But I AM continuing this story, from another point in TWD story. If you want to leave it there you are welcome to. If not and you want to see where this story goes, please follow. The story is going to get darker as life gets harder for the survivors.**


	2. Chapter 2

_**I wanted a little fill in story for the winter months between seasons 2 and 3. So this is set around day 190 of the global outbreak. 5 months since Daryl and Rebecca's shared night in the worksite office. 3 ½ months since the group fled the farm and about 1 month into winter. (I spent a bit of time rolling around the TWD timeline to try to work out an approximate date). It is still a good 3 months+ before they find the prison.**_

_**Please be aware that this will be a dark story. I am a graphic novel writer and I use fan fiction as a warm up before launching into writing. So you will probably notice my language skills improve over the chapters. Please forgive any early errors and note that all reviews and comments are welcome. **_

_**I do not own The Walking Dead or it's characters.**_

Fuck it was cold. Steeling himself against the stinging breeze on his face, Daryl looked up from the trail of rabbit tracks he was crouched over. The prints were clear in the snow-muddied soil. Standing up, pulling his jacket and vest tighter around his body, he turned to the man behind him and nodded his head in the direction of the tracks. He continued his soft footsteps along the rabbit path before him.

He and Rick had been hunting for a few hours before they came to the first clear sign that there might be a rabbit dinner in their future. Rick, who's hunting and tracking skill had vastly improved over the last few months, purely out of necessity, followed just as silently behind Daryl.

Their group had survived in various abandoned shelters and farmsteads since the horrific event at the Greene Farm, months ago now. Always ready to pick up and move at the first sign of the amassing herd of walkers at their heels. They had stayed in ghost towns and a storage facility at one point, always travelling light. While they were strong together, as a family now, food was their crippling point. Everyone had harder features and hollowed cheeks from their under-nourishment and constant moving around, including the 6 months pregnant Lori. The bulk of their diet came from Daryl and his crossbow. The task weighed heavily on the man's shoulders as he felt like he failed them everyday. Even when he brought back some fresh game, he knew it was never enough. The woods were scarce enough in winter time, let alone when the walking dead feasted on any flesh the could catch.

Puffs of frost came from his chilled lips, as he breathed softly. He kept his eyes alert for any sign of his furry prey. The tracks led them further down the hillside, away from their group, Daryl thought to himself. His group. These people had shared enough hardship and sorrow and horror together, knitting them tighter as a family. Rick, as their leader, had become a harder man. His role taking its toll on his physical form, aging him somewhat, as well as his emotional one. His eyes were hard, and his demeanour harsh. The weight of his decisions for the group, his cross to bare. Daryl trusted the man at his back, as did everyone in their group, for he had earned that trust. He had led them and kept them alive, his only thoughts about their survival.

Movement at the corner of Daryl's eye whipped his head around to their right, raising his crossbow to his eye level. His sudden action causing Rick to freeze in his tracks and squint his eyes through the trees, trying to see what Daryl had seen. A hare, sped from behind a tree a scant few feet from where they stood. Daryl's reaction was instant, his bolt piercing the rabbit and pinning it to the ground, it's death instantaneous. A soft puff of breath left Daryl's mouth, thankful he would at least be able to bring back something to the starving group, who were currently holed up in a hunting cabin a few miles away. He moved forward and scooped up the hare. Removing his bolt, he passed the game meat back to Rick, who tied it to a length of cord and threw it over his shoulder like Daryl had shown him in his first hunting lessons months ago. Reloading his crossbow, they continued on, hopeful that where there was one rabbit, there was more.

…...

The wind licked at Daryl's neck sending a shudder down his back. Their search for more game turning fruitless. The clouds overhead mustering together, threatening a storm later on tonight. Rick and Daryl reluctantly turning back, made their way back in the direction they came from. With eyes wide and searching for a second stray bunny they could collect on their return.

Following Rick back, Daryl's skin prickled as he thought he heard noises to their far right. Impossible to determine over the sound of the wind whipping around them. Ever cautious, he froze in his path. Rick, sensing the sudden stop over his shoulder, paused as well. Daryl turned his head and focussed his hearing, trying to separate the sound of the wind from anything else there might be to hear. His heart skipped a beat and moved to his throat as a distant screaming voice echoed through the trees towards them. Rick clearly also heard the shout as his eyes turned to Daryl's face for confirmation before taking off running in the direction of the sound. Daryl lifted his feet and kept pace with the fast moving Rick, eyes constantly searching for the source of the scream and the most likely cause.

…...

This was it. The 'dead end', her sick-humoured voice in her head stated. Her survival the past few months had been because of her flight-not-fight policy. Now, as she foolishly broke her own rule for another, she was to be rewarded with her horror-filled death. She had ran, drawing the pack of dead behind her. She had ran and ran, but her chest was winded and her legs shaky. In, what felt like, a previous life, a three mile run would have been a great start to her day. Now, in the frozen country-side, her malnourished body could carry her no further. She mustered what little strength she had in her arms and drew her machete from the make-shift sheath at her back. Turning on the spot, she cast away her bag and set her feet under herself. The pack of 9 hungry 'freaks' snapped and hissed at the air as they closed the gap between them and their prey.

The small clearing she had chosen to make her final stand and exit from this world, was nothing more than a short break in the trees. If anything, it meant that nothing else would come from a tree behind her and surprise her with a bite to the side of her face. She brought her machete up to her shoulder height like a baseball bat and steeled herself for the wave of death that was about to break over her. Her only hope was to take out a few of the stinking corpse with her.

"COME ON, YOU FUCKERS!" She screamed at the group as they broke through the trees about 30 feet in front of her. As the first of the dead neared her, she took her steps forward, putting her weight behind her machete as she brought it down hard into the dead man's skull. Wretching it up from the twice-dead body at her feet, she smashed it into the jaw of the second 'freak', sending the ghastly woman back into the rushing corpse behind her. Spinning in her stance, she gripped the handle of her long blade and forced it into the next dead face in her line of sight. Withdrawing the machete again, as the bulk of the group caught up to her position, she turned as she saw one of the raging corpses fall to the ground, 'lifeless', of it's own accord. She didn't stop. As the next clawing body reached for her, she brought her steel down on the soft head of a decaying teenaged boy. A fast moving object passed closely by her face and struck the forehead of her next intended machete target. The body fell to her feet as she turned her eyes from the group to look behind her.

She was struck and suddenly knocked to the ground by a large hand, hard in her chest. She had been pushed from the reach of the would-be, bringer-of-her-death. The air knocked from her lungs, she glanced up, for but a second, to see the two men who came from the tree line either side of her. One swinging the butt of his crossbow into the skull of the oncoming dead. The other driving a long knife up into the jaw of the next two closest corpses. Dropping one after the other.

Falling to her side, she gasped for air. Willing her lungs to open, she rolled to her stomach and dug her fingers into the soft, muddy earth. Her breath coming back to her in cold, shocking gulps.

Daryl smashed in the face of the last standing corpse, hitting it again on the ground for good measure. He looked up to Rick, who pushed a rotting body off of his knife with his boot. A quick look around to make sure that was the last one, Daryl spotted the girl he had shoved out of the way of the 'walker'. A tall, thin girl, with short dark hair, lay on the ground gasping for air.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hope you all liked the first chapter. It was a short one, but was more of an introduction to the second part of this story.**_

_**I plan to post chapters within days of each other. This story is writing itself fast in my head and my fingers on the keys are struggling to keep up.**_

_**Let me know what you think/like/hate.**_

She lay her head on the ground, in the soft dirt. The wet grass pressed against her flushed cheek. Her face covered by a curtain of her own dirty black hair. Ragged hair, that ended just below her jaw line. Her fingers sunk slowly back into the mud beneath her hand. Soft breaths puffed from her mouth as she closed off from the world and just focussed on the soft earth she dug her short nails into.

She was suppose to die. Her mind had already decided that when she had turned to face the raging dead. Her belief in the end of her life was so strong, she now found it hard to face the reality that she was still here. Still in hell on earth.

"Hey, Sweetheart. Are you ok?" A soft voice, not far from to her right asked her.

The use of the familiar pet name woke her from dazed state, back to the horror-filled world. She turned her face into the dirt and curled into a tighter ball. The nickname sending a painful chill to her stomach.

"She ain't bit, is she?" A second voice asked, to which Rick slowly shook his head. "Time to get up 'girly'." Daryl said, softer this time.

The southern voice soothed her, the sound of it resonating in her memory, and she recalled hearing it's gravely note from her past. She turned her face slowly to the man who had spoke it, and pushed her hair from her face to behind her ear. Looking over her shoulder she recognised the broad shoulders and soft eyes of a man she had shared a night with long ago.

Daryl watched as the girl turned towards him, leaning up on her arm and brushing the hair from her face. He realised with a heart skip that he knew the girl. Her hair was much shorter now but her dark eyes and long legs hit him like a punch in the chest. He stepped forwards quickly and bent down on a knee, reaching to grab her wrist, and wrenching her from her position against the earth to one facing him. His breath left him in a hard puff as his eyes searched her face for an answer as to what happened to her. She was so thin and her eyes so much darker. She was dressed in long black jeans and a brown leather jacket. A grey hood hugged around her hollowed jaw. His words left him. He couldn't think of anything but her gaunt face and the bloodied machete laying beside her.

"Daryl. Do you know her?" Rick asked, taken aback by Daryl's sudden actions.

"Yeah." He replied openly, his eyes darting between her left and right eyes, still searching for any explanation as to why she looked like this. "Rebecca?" He whispered.

A soft smile tipped just the corners of her mouth at the sound of her name from his lips. Softening her harsh eyes and relaxing her tense body. Tears suddenly ran uncontrollably down her cheeks, while a tiny smile stayed on her red lips. Daryl pulled her wrist and dragged her to his chest. Wrapping his arms around her diminished frame and holding her tight against his hard body as she shook. She put her arms up, as a wall between his body and hers, but didn't push away from his embrace.

Rick looked around the clearing sheepishly as he felt like he was intruding on something deeply personal. Daryl had never been this public with his affections before. He spotted the bag Rebecca had flung to the tree line before her last stand. Rick picked it up and walked to the pair still on the ground. He cleared his throat and dropped his gaze as he stood with his hands resting on his holster at his hip.

The sound broke Daryl away from Rebecca. His hands held on to her upper arms, to keep her facing towards him, as he resumed his study of her faded form.

As she broke from her shock of seeing Daryl at the end of her life, her thoughts returned to her in a rush that shook her breath from her. She started to push herself out of his firm grip. Shrugging him off best she could, she climbed to her quaking legs. Getting up much too fast brought spots to her eyes, but her thoughts were no longer on herself or Daryl.

"The girl." She croaked as her voice broke past the lump in her throat. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve as Daryl got to his feet and moved to grab her again as she swayed. "We have to get back to her. The little girl." Her pleading eyes turned to Daryl's. As she reached forward for her machete on the ground, the earth tilted beneath her. Daryl caught her again and steadied her against his body.

"We have to get the little girl." She choked again, as she pulled away from Daryl's arms, giddily.

"What little girl?" Rick asked, his own hands shooting out to steady the girl as her steps forward faulted. They grabbed at her and halted her, her eyes darting between the two men, willing them to understand.

Rebecca stopped her struggle and breathed a few long huffs, closing her eyes to focus on her words better. She brushed their hands off her and stepped away, turning to face them. Composing herself, she looked at the two men who were ready to dart forward and grab her if she were to fall.

"There is a girl." Her words forming and coming in hoarse bursts from her dry throat. "A little blonde thing." She indicated to her hip with her free hand, the girl's approximate height. Her machete hanging by her side loosely in the other hand. Her strength finding it's way back to her voice. "She was trapped in a tree, surrounded by these fucks." Rebecca kicked dirt at one of the corpses by their feet. " I drew them away and told her to wait for me to return. But I couldn't shake 'em. They just kept coming." Her voice wavered. "We have to go back."

"Ok, calm down, no point gettin' hysterical." Daryl cut in, in a voice barely above a whisper. Clearly their reunion was going to have to wait. He turned towards the first few walkers he had dropped and collected his bolts from the heads around him.

"Which way?" Rick asked, giving Rebecca a confirming nod that they were going with her. He questioned to himself how this was going to end, but despite any reservations he had about following her away from their group, he couldn't ignore the woman pleading in front of him and the possibility of a trapped little girl somewhere.

Rebecca turned and looked for the sun, hard to find behind the dense clouds above. She took her bearings and raised an arm to point out their direction. "There is a road a ways back there. I parked near her. We get back to the road, we should be able to spot my car."

Rick passed Rebecca her bag and nodded to Daryl, who returned the gesture, agreeing with her summation at their current position and the unspoken decision to find the kid in the tree. He reloaded his crossbow after wiping some gore from it's handle. A dip of his face toward Rebecca indicating for her to lead the way.

Rebecca turned and lead them from the clearing, now littered with the still rotting flesh of her pursuers.

…...

The silent hike broke against the edges of the old road. All three casting their eyes down the road to the vehicle parked about half a mile back down the straight stretch to their right. She turned her eyes to Daryl's, feeling the heat on her back from his stare. During the hike back to the kid's tree, she had glanced at Daryl over her shoulder, repeatedly. Still in disbelief that she was seeing this ghost from her past. It had been 5 months but it felt like a decade ago. A lifetime ago.

His hair had grown out, longer across his forehead and down his neck. His cheeks hollowed lightly, a trait worn on every survivors face now. His eyes burned the same intensity and his mouth still tucked in as he bit at the inside of his lips. Dark jeans with a shredded right knee, hunting knife hanging from his belt. Some things don't change. Leather biker sleaves and vest protecting him from the icy winter air. As he stepped past her down the road, his gaze on the path at his feet, her throat constricted at the sight of the angel wings down his back. Rebecca's hand stretched out in front of her to softly touch the tattered biker patch. The feeling of her hand brushing his back turning his face to her, as she snatched her arm back. She blushed and dropped her eyes to her stupid fucking hands that couldn't just keep to themselves. Daryl's mouth lifted on one side to a smirk, that didn't quite get to his eyes, as he looked at her self-conscious movements. He turned his head and again focused on their looming destination. Rebecca shook her head at herself.

The three got down low and moved quickly to the jeep. Parked at an angle in the middle of the road, Rebecca had clearly abandoned it in a hurry. Sliding along the side panel from the front to the back, they crouched at the rear wheel. Rick looked out around the tailgate to the spot Rebecca had gestured to. Three walkers were pawing at the tree with bloodied fingers. Scratching so hard they shredded the skin from their own fingertips against the rough hard tree bark. The girl was hidden from his sight, but Rick easily surmised she was still there by the way the predators worked at the tree for their prey. He moved back behind the car, holding up three fingers to Daryl. Daryl swapped places with Rick with a curt nod of his head. Standing up quietly, he brought his loaded crossbow up to his eye line. He moved forward a few silent steps and let his first bolt fly, striking target and pinning the head of the nearest walker to the tree it groped at. He reloaded and put down the second walker in a graceful flurry of his weapon. The sound of the triggering crossbow catching the attention of the third ghoul. Daryl again hastily reset his bow and quickly pierced the eye socket of the decaying woman as she moved in his direction. Three down in a matter of seconds. Rebecca and Rick, who were standing at the tailgate of the jeep, moved forward to the tree, as Daryl retrieved his bolts from the bodies strewn around the tree.

"Hey girl. Are ya there?" Rebecca asked in her best attempt at a soft, motherly voice.

The small girl was gripping to the tree with white knuckles, desperate not to fall to the waiting mouths that had stood below her, hissing and moaning, turning her stomach to stone. The little blonde, no older than 4 or 5 years of age, was dressed in a faded summery dress over jeans and boots ('jeans and boots for everyone, even little girls' thought Rebecca) a brown knitted jumper her only protection from the frosted air.

"Come on down Sweetie. They are all gone now." Rick hushed in a soothing, throaty voice.

"It's ok. Come down." Rebecca clicked her tongue and opened her arms to the small frightened girl.

"She ain't a cat." Daryl chided at Rebecca's sounds. "Jus' frightened is all." He passed his crossbow to Rebecca and licked his top lip in thought. He hitched his loose jeans up on his hip and reached for the lowest branch, stepping on a crumpled dead body for a boost up. The first branch was actually rather high, Rebecca considered. The little girl must have had help getting up to it in the first place. Daryl climbed slowly towards the thin little girl and put his hands out for her to move to him, letting her get comfortable with the idea of leaving the tree. She moved forward into his arms as he held her against his chest and guided them both down through the branches. She looked like a tiny rag doll against Daryl's large shoulder and arm. Her blonde strands stuck to her face with tears. He stopped at the last branch and unwrapped the girl from his neck, as Rick moved underneath to grab her when Daryl passed her down. The pair moved her to the ground and Rick quickly turned her face away from the bodies around the tree.

"Where are you from Sweetie?" Rick asked in his authoritative, child-friendly voice. He had kneeled in front of her, and gave her a drink from the water bottle Rebecca had passed him from her bag. The little girl, not speaking, just turned and looked to an overgrown track, 10 feet from the tree she had been abandoned in. Her eyes watered and lingered on the body of the woman Daryl had put down last. Rebecca stepped between the girl and the corpse, noticing the same blonde straight hair, putting two and two together that that walker was probably the girl's mother. She bit at the inside of her cheek and blinked away the tingling sensation in her eyes.

Rebecca removed her brown leather jacket and unzipped the grey hoodie from her body. As she took off the layer, to wrap around the small girl, Daryl's eyes narrowed and he grimaced at the thinned, t-shirt clad, frame of the tall woman. Her, once muscular and strong body, now looked almost vulnerable. She still had defined muscles in her arms and shoulders, but they were hardened and ropey. He quickly stepped over towards her and scooped up her jacket, putting it around her shoulders before the wind could bite at her. Rebecca's eye contact with Daryl caught his concerned look and she pulled her jacket tightly around herself.

Rick gestured to the girl with open palms, asking her if he could carry her. She moved towards him and he slowly scooped her up, her thin hands around his shoulders. Daryl tore his eyes from Rebecca's face and picked up his crossbow. With a sniff, he sighted his weapon and moved towards the path through the trees.

…...

It was little more than 8 or so tents around a firepit. The camping ground was littered with a few corpses and scattered about camping supplies. These people had been so under prepared for a 'freak' attack it was only a matter of time before this happened, Rebecca thought to herself. She caught Daryl's eye as he looked about, the same thought troubling his face, furrowing his brow. No one was alive here. They weren't going to find anyone that this little girl belonged to.

Rick kept her face turned towards his chest so she wouldn't see the horror scene around them. Wouldn't see the blood splatter on the tents, or the flesh-torn limbs of her fallen group.

With a sigh, Rebecca knelt down and peered inside one of the open tents. Her hand gripped tighter on her machete, preparing her for any ghouls that may still remain. The familiar 'survivor's guilt' settling in her chest as she moved into the tent to pick through the items left behind by the dead. A few t-shirts and a pair of jeans that would fit her with a belt, her reward, along with a small flip-blade knife and a packet of smokes with a lighter. She moved out of that tent and into the next, and the next. Her usual routine when finding an empty campsite, house or vehicle. She hated it, god how she hated it. Hated herself. Fighting the sick feeling in her stomach she gathered what she could into a black bag she had emptied in a tent, including a few tins of canned vegetables. She emerged from the tent, avoiding Rick's eyes, and slung the bag over her shoulder. Daryl came from the last tent and caught her tear-filled eyes by surprise when he looked up from the ground unexpectedly. He reached forward to reassure her, but she ducked from his outstretched hand, acting like she didn't see it with her eyes turned down to the ground. She didn't want her guilt to be alleviated.

A last look around the camp over her shoulder, and silent 'Thank you' and 'I'm sorry' said in her head, she hitched the bag up and moved towards the path to return to her car. The two men and the small child following behind her.

…...

"So where are your people?" Rebecca asked to either of the men, as they approached her car, in a croaky, thin voice. Daryl and Rick looked at each other, both wondering what the other thought about disclosing their groups location to the girl. Daryl had been planning on asking Rebecca to join them, just as he had asked her months ago. But he wouldn't have asked without running it by Rick first. That was how their group survived. Rick made all the calls, especially the hard ones.

Rebecca had asked the question and it hung in the air around them for a touch too long. It clicked in her head that they probably didn't want an unknown, and possibly unhinged, person to know where they were sheltered. She had asked with the intent of just dropping them off, along with the little girl, before leaving them for her solitude. But with the silence hanging around them, she quickly made her decision.

"Don't tell me." She cut off Rick as he was about to say something. Saving him from having to tell her 'no'. "Just take the girl with you." Rebecca moved around the other side of the car, opened the rear passenger side door and reached behind the drivers seat. She pulled out a brown messenger bag and threw it over her shoulder. Reaching in again, she produced a compound bow and a quiver of long arrows from behind the passenger seat. She closed the door and moved around to the tail gate of the jeep, Rick and Daryl watching her quick movements in puzzled silence. She tossed the campsite bag with the supplies and food cans in to the back of the car. Keeping the jeans, knife and smokes she found from the first tent, she closed up her messenger bag and nodded to Rick and Daryl. She tossed Daryl the keys and turned away from her jeep, walking away with a quick step.

"Woah, wait! Where are you goin' girl?" Daryl asked as he chased after her. He jogged around and stopped in front of her.

"You don't want me to know where you are." She said it to mean that it was in everyone's best interest if she didn't know where the group was. But Daryl heard it as meaning that she thought he personally didn't want her around him.

Rick placed the little girl in the passenger seat of the car and moved over to the pair standing in the road, staring at each other.

"That ain't it at all." Daryl stated with a sneer. Despite the overwhelming urge to look away and withdraw from the sad, dark eyes staring into his own, Daryl knew that if he gave in and looked away he might never see those eyes again.

"Please, come join us." Rick extended the invitation. He didn't know the story that these two people shared, but Rick trusted Daryl. Daryl never asked for anything from the group. He hunted for food, took watch and protected them, day in and day out. Never asking for a single thing in return. Daryl could easily have survived on his own. His life would have been easier and safer if he didn't have to fend for so many people. Rick could see that this woman was important to Daryl, so he wouldn't hesitate to bring her into their group.

"No." She spoke as she kept her gaze on Daryl's eyes. Neither of them wanting to break away. His face faltered at her flat reply, but he didn't look away. Her throat split and she croaked out a whisper. "I can't."

Her words bringing Daryl a wave of 'deja-vu' from when she replied the same short sentence to his request that she go with him to the quarry. The feeling angered him and he grabbed at her face, taking her jaw in his hand so she couldn't turn her face away.

"Don't you say those fucking words to me again!" He yelled right in her face. Rick recoiled in shock at Daryl's sudden outburst and actions. "You ain't pulling that shit again." His accent coating his words thickly. He moved his face to within an inch of hers, looking to her trembling mouth and the tears that silently rolled down her face.

Rebecca dropped her bow and arrows to the ground and put her hands up between Daryl and herself, clutching her shaky fingers to the front panels of his vest. She leaned forward towards Daryl but fell hard to her knees in front of him, catching him off guard and he dropped her chin from his grip. She still clung to his vest as she buried her face into his abdomen. Her heavy sobs and shaking shoulders stunning Daryl. This wasn't the reaction he had expected at all. He put his large hands to the back of her head and neck and held her against him as she shuddered and shook. Looking to Rick for help, being completely beyond his comfort zone, Daryl didn't know what to do.

He looked at her convulsing shoulders. Bending down on his knee in front of her, he moved his hands around to cup her face. Wiping her tears from her cheeks with his rough, calloused thumbs, he caught her eyes and tilted her face up towards his. He bit at the inside of his mouth and set his resolution. Without a word, he draped one of his arms around her back and the other he scooped around under her legs, picking up her light body and holding her against his chest. She turned her face into his neck and closed her eyes, silently thanking him for not taking 'no' for an answer.

Rick picked up Rebecca's things and opened the back door of the jeep. Daryl awkwardly climbed in to the backseat with Rebecca. He placed her in the seat and pulled the car keys from his back pocket, passing them to Rick. Sitting beside her on the bench seat, he leaned back and pulled her head against his shoulder. Making soft 'shhh…' noises, his lips pushed to the top of her head, he eased her sobs and rubbed his hand up and down her shaking arms.

Rick climbed into the drivers seat and put Rebecca's compound bow and arrows behind his seat, at her feet. He notice the little blonde girl had already taken up the front passenger seat and was wearing her seatbelt. He put the key to the ignition and started up the jeep. Taking a last look around them, he pulled away from the trees and corpses, and headed in the direction of their group.


	4. Chapter 4

After a few minutes of sobbing into Daryl's shoulder, Rebecca had pushed herself away from him and leaned back in her seat, gazing out the window. As Rick drove on, the little girl had fallen asleep in her seat at the front. Her soft breaths blowing a strand of hair back and forth in front of her mouth. Daryl sat back in his seat, bitting at the side of his thumb, sending the occasional quick glance in Rebecca's direction. Rebecca could feel it every time his eyes slid to her turned away shoulders. His watchful eyes had a heat to them, a warmth that spread through her body. She purposefully kept her back turned to him, not ready yet to face the questions she knew he was going to ask.

Resting her head against the cold window, her eyes moved over the frozen country side they passed. Open paddocks, that probably once held livestock, now only occupied by the occasional walking corpse. Her eyes caught on a group of about 7 'walkers', as Daryl had called them earlier while talking to Rick. The pack were staggering around the field together, turning from left to right and around in fast circles. Their odd movements made Rebecca furrow her brow and squint to get a better look. An odd shambling dance, full of turns and dives, this was strange behaviour. As she saw a rotting old man make a sudden dive for the ground, the realisation of what she was seeing hit her.

"Stop the car." Her hoarse voice broke the cars silence.

Rick slowed the car and looked around the windows to see what Rebecca had seen. Seeing only the danger in the field to their left, he turned a quizzical glance to Daryl.

"What's up?" Daryl asked the question, gesturing with his eyes to Rick to agree to her request and stop the jeep. The walkers were far enough away that they wouldn't be in any immediate danger.

"How many people are in your group?" Rebecca asked, not looking at either man, but keeping her eyes on the walkers in the field.

"10." Her reply from Rick.

"Are you hungry?" She asked turning to Daryl. His eyes squinted as he felt the familiar feeling of failure rise in his throat.

"Where's this comin' from?" Daryl snapped, a little harsher than he meant to.

"Those walkers seem strange to you?" She turned and pointed at the waltzing group. Daryl shifted closer and looked past her out the window. "Their chasing rabbits. A whole family of them if I had to guess."

Rick looked to Daryl. The opportunity to bring home a good meal was high temptation indeed.

Rebecca saw this also as an opportunity to prove she wasn't just a crying mess and a waste of space. She was annoyed at herself for her meltdown earlier. Bringing some food with her to meet the group might also make for friendlier people. She normally wouldn't dare chase this food source, the walkers too many for the possible reward. But having other people around had it's benefits. She reached for her bow and arrows and put her hand to the door handle.

"Whoa, where are _you _goin'?" Daryl asked as he grabbed onto the waistband of her loose fitting jeans, stopping her from getting out of the car. She turned her eyes with an incredulous glare at Daryl. He was relieved slightly to see a bit of fire glow behind them for the first time since they're re-encounter. She shifted her hips getting his hand away from her pants, and got out of the car, not replying to his question. Daryl picked up his crossbow and hopped out of the car through her door, standing beside her at the rear of the vehicle.

"I'm going for the tree." She stated as she pointed to a tree maybe 40 feet from the walking corpses. "We'll do what happened earlier with the girl." Nodding at the blonde in the front seat, who was watching their actions with eyes like saucers. "I'm fast enough." She cut of the angry redneck as he was about to say 'Fuck no!' "You take out the walkers and I'll get the bunnies before they scurry."

Rick hated that she was throwing herself into danger, but thought it was a sound plan. Or at least it was their only plan. He nodded his consent at her, as she looked at him waiting for the go-ahead. Daryl fumed as he turned and kicked at the car and spat angrily to the side.

Rebecca, ignoring Daryl's disagreement, put her quiver over her shoulder and her arm through her bow strings knowing she was going to need free hands to climb. The walkers had not yet noticed the car stopped near the paddock. The more time it took for them to notice, the more chance she had of closing the distance to the tree before they got to her.

Rebecca could move. Really move. She had quick feet and stamina. In the past, running had been her past time. Now it wasn't so much for fun as life-or-death necessity.

She inhaled and huffed out a hard breath. Leaving the car, she moved lightly on her feet. Her plan to hop the ditch at the side of the road and get over the fence before the open all-out sprint to the tree, where she prayed she would find a good foothold to climb before the walkers descend upon her. At which point, Daryl and Rick can clean up the distracted walkers and she can bag some bunnies.

The walkers still hadn't noticed her as she approached the wire fence around the paddock, still too interested in the hares moving around their feet. Rebecca put her hand to a timber post and stepped her long legs over the wire. As she brought her left leg over, her jeans snagged on the barbed wire causing her to loose balance and bring her shin down on the rusted spikes. A cry escaped her mouth before she could stop herself. Her eyes darted to the walkers, all of whom heard her shout and smelt her blood in the air, like sharks can taste it in the water.

Rebecca ripped her jeans free from the wire fence and ran for the tree. The walkers moved quickly and were much closer than she was to her target. She had to close a distance of 200 feet in the time that the dead had to move 40. Daryl and Rick ran and leapt over the drain, running to the fence, both shouting at her to come back. She glanced quickly behind her, but kept her feet moving, tearing it up. A slip of her hand and she had dropped her bow into the grass. Knowing it was too late to stop now she didn't even slow. Life or death kind of running.

The walkers moaned as they all but tripped over themselves trying to get to the meal running straight at them.

The tree, a few short bounds in front of her now, had a smooth trunk and a single low branch at about 6 foot high. Rebecca took a flying leap for the branch and grabbed hold for dear life. She swung her legs up and pulled her shaken body up the trunk of the tree. Manipulating her muscles, she righted herself on the branch and lifted her feet before a walker below snatched at her boot, grabbing only air. (Adrenalin! Fuck yeah.)

Daryl let out a breath he had been holding as he saw Rebecca move like a gymnast out of the walkers reach. He bent down as he ran and scooped up her bow from the grassy ground. He slung it over his arm as Rebecca had done earlier, raising his crossbow to his eye line. He freed his first bolt, taking out a walker who had turned in the direction of the running men. Resetting his crossbow he passed Rebecca's bow to Rick. Rebecca had climbed to the second branch, now well out of the reach of the walkers below. She clapped her hands and gestured for Rick to throw her bow to her.

Rick plunged his knife into the jaw of an approaching walker and moved around Daryl to get closer to Rebecca. Daryl dropped corpse after corpse, only three of the seven now still standing. Rebecca had already drawn an arrow as she caught her bow in the air from Rick. Loading, drawing and steadying herself, she sighted her large grey target, only 15 yards away. Letting fly, arrow after arrow she struck rabbit after rabbit. Three, four, five, as many as she could see in rapid succession. When all her quarry was dead or gone from sight, she lowered her bow and looked down to see how the situation was below her.

Daryl and Rick had destroyed the hungry mob and were now checking to make sure the job was done. She climbed down from her perch, moving to the lower branch. She got on her stomach on the branch and lowered her legs over one side. Sliding down to minimise the drop, she felt a pair of hands on her hips, helping her down. Hitting the ground softly, she turned around. She was surprised at herself when she realised that she felt disappointed that Rick had been the one to help her, and put his hands on her body, not Daryl. She blushed a little and said a quick thank you to Rick, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

She walked past Daryl, who was wiping a bolt clean on the body at his feet, and collected her first kill. 8 total rabbits from 8 arrows. She hadn't even missed one. She picked up each by the arrow in its side or neck and held them like a morbid bouquet. Daryl raised an eyebrow and a small smirk lit up his lips as she walked back towards them, game in hand.

"8 for 8, if you were wondering." She said with a small smile, eyes flicking to Daryl's face. The pain in her bleeding shin now coming back to her as her adrenalin subsided. She winced and hopped a little as she passed the bunch of rabbits to Rick. She sat on the ground and rolled up her torn jean leg. A few trickles of blood ran down the side of her leg and dripped to the ground. Rick looked down at her, a mixed bag of feelings. Happy that they had food, pumped from the kills, angry at Rebecca for still going through with the plan despite being hurt, and also relieved that she was ok but for a few deep cuts on her leg.

Daryl sat down cross-legged next to Rebecca's shin, facing her. He lifted her calf onto his knee and wiped at the bloody mess with a rag. She thought, with a smile, of the rag he had wiped walker goo from her face in the rain and mud, oh so many months ago now. Funny how some memories can trigger in your brain at the sight or smell of small things. He wrapped the bloodied rag around her open cut and secured it tightly with a knot at the back. She sucked in a breath as he pulled it hard to apply pressure to the wound. Daryl looked at her face, biting at the inside of his cheek at the sight of her pain. He rolled her torn pant leg down over the dressing and put her foot back to the ground. He stood up wiping his hands on his pants and extended a hand to help Rebecca to her feet. She accepted it and was pulled up to a wobbly stance. Daryl slipped his hand around her waist, and her hand over his broad shoulders, to steady her and help her limp back to the car.

The three moved slowly back to the car and the little girl behind it's locked doors. Rick climbed over the fence, taking their bows and the bunnies, and placed them on the ground. Daryl scooped up Rebecca, shocked at how light she really was, and passed her over the fence to Rick. She lifted her legs over the wire and slid into the tall man's arms, getting her feet back to the ground. Daryl gracefully hoped the fence and resumed his position at her side. Rick grabbed the gear and followed behind them, smirking at the hand Daryl now had wrapped around Rebecca's hip.

…...

They turned the corner of the driveway of the empty hunting lodge. Half a dozen small cabins littered about a main building. Two men ran to the car, guns raised. Rick wound down the window and raised his arm from the drivers side, giving a wearisome wave to the armed men. Glenn and T-dog lowered their weapons and turned to tell unseen others it was Rick and Daryl. The car came to a stop and Rick and Daryl exited the jeep. Others came out from the main building and joined the group now approaching the car. Rick opened the passenger door for Rebecca and helped her ease to the ground, putting her weight on her good leg. She hissed as she stepped around the vehicle, arm around Rick's for support.

"Hershel." Rick spoke. "This is Rebecca, our new friend. She may need a few stiches in her leg."

An older gentleman approached Rebecca, looking to Rick with a tight-lipped expression. Older was correct, right down to the white hair and beard. Rick nodded his head and the man returned the gesture, taking Rebecca's other arm. The three walked awkwardly towards the main building. Daryl then stepped forward, moving around into Rick's spot at Rebecca's side, and lifted her up in his arms.

"Lead the way, Doc." Daryl said, looking at Rebecca's surprised face.

She didn't really want to be picked up and handled this way, even if it was Daryl. She shied away from human touch. The months alone, and what happened to her before that, had her stomach rolling at being pinned against his body. She breathed deep and let him carry her to a couch in the main lodge. A blushed smile and a quick nod as a thank you to Daryl, as he stepped back and let Hershel in to see to her leg. Untying the knot in her make-shift bandage, Hershel saw her lacerations and called to a tall slender brunette. "Maggie, I will need sutures, boiled water and clean towels. And some antibiotics for our friend here." Copying Rick's term for the new person amongst them.

…...

After letting Rebecca go with Daryl and Hershel, Rick turned back to the jeep and the front passenger door. Looking over his shoulder, he spotted Carol and Beth and gestured his finger for them to come join him at the side of the car. He cracked the door open as quietly as possible, and stepped back allowing Carol and Beth to peer inside. The little girl was asleep in the slightly reclined seat, clearly exhausted from her nightmare day. Rick closed the door again softly.

"We don't know her name, and she hasn't spoken to us yet." From his slightly down-turned head, he looked at the faces of the two women. "We rescued her from a tree surrounded by walkers, some of which we think were her family." Carol's lips tightened at her constricting throat as she moved her eyes to the sleeping girl. "Can you two keep an eye on her while we sort things out?"

"Yep, no problem Rick." Carol said with a nod, her voice cracked as she spoke past the lump in her neck.

"We'll let you know if she wakes up." Beth pitched in.

"Thank you ladies." Rick said as he turned towards the main building.

"Hey, I thought bringing home strays was my job." Quipped Glenn as Rick approached the building where he and T-dog were standing, guns now at their sides. Rick clapped a hand to Glenn's shoulder and moved inside the building.

…...

The feeling of the sutures, being administered without any local anaesthetic, had tears rolling down Rebecca's face. She wasn't crying out loud or anything. To look at her you would think she was just really tired. Her head tilted back on the cushion behind her neck, eyes closed tightly with a set jaw. She breathed deeply, her hands wound into the fabric of her jacket. The tears poured silently from her as Hershel pierced her skin with the needle and pulled the thread through her throbbing, burning skin. 7 stiches in, about 5 more to go.

Rebecca had practiced stiches before, back in her medical training days, her pre-apocalypse life. But that had been with actual sutures, not needle and thread, and sewn into a pig leg for educational purposes. At least the white haired man, known as Hershel, was swift at the job.

With 3 more to go, Rebecca tried to calm herself as she felt the shakes come up from her abdomen. They spread through her whole body and Hershel paused, waiting with a patient smile for her to resume her calm exterior. Rebecca's left hand dropped from her bunched up jacket and she banged it down on the table beside her, talking to herself to 'calm the fuck down and get a hold of yourself'.

"No hurry." Said Hershel. "Take what time you need."

Daryl moved from his stool he had taken up at the small bar next to the lounge. He reached over and grabbed a shot glass and a half bottle of bourbon from the shelf behind the bar. Standing next to Rebecca he crouched down beside the coffee table and poured her a shot. She gratefully accepted it and drew it to her lips with a thankful smile to Daryl. She shot the glass of the burning liquid and steeled herself on the couch for her last few stitches. Daryl moved behind her back and put his hands down on her shoulders, applying a little bit of pressure for her to push against. Her nerves starting to calm, she breathed deeply and settled against the comforting hands. A quick nod to Hershel and he resumed his work.

…..

As Hershel wrapped the shredded bit of material around her wound to act as a bandage, Rick and others came and sat around the lounge area. Rebecca had a look around the room, distracting herself from the stinging of her abused skin. The main building wasn't very big. It was more or less a lounge room with a bar to the left and a few scattered couches around tables and a fireplace. There was a door at the back of the room, on the right, with a sign overhead that said 'kitchen'. Even the word kitchen made Rebecca's stomach tighten into hungry knots.

Daryl had moved away from his position at her back and stood at the side window, looking out to the forest around them, scanning for walkers. Rick sat opposite Rebecca on an arm chair as other's moved around and joined them. A slight feeling of agoraphobia crept over Rebecca, but she fought hard at it and plastered a tight-lipped smile on her face.

"How are you feeling?" Rick asked in a soothing voice. Rebecca just nodded her head with a grimace as her throat constricted around her words.

Clearing her throat softly, she asked "How is the girl?"

"Sleeping in the jeep. We have two of our people watching her, Carol and Beth." Rick then looked around at the room of people. "You have met Hershel and his daughter Maggie." He introduced. "This is Carl, my son, and Lori." He nodded his head at the thin woman with the swollen belly standing beside another armchair. A sad smile lifted to the woman's lips and she nodded her head at Rebecca, who returned the gesture. "Glenn and T-dog were our welcome wagon outside earlier." Rick gestured to the two men standing inside the door way of the building.

"Hi." The young Asian man, presumably Glenn, not T-dog, gave a small wave as Maggie, the brunette went and stood at his side.

"Hi." Rebecca returned sheepishly.

Daryl then left his post at the window and exited the building by the main door. He returned moments later with Rebecca's bag and bow, placing them beside the couch she sat on. He also had the bunch of rabbits. "Gonna go skin these." He mumbled and made his way to the kitchen.

"Thank you." Rebecca spoke to his turned back. He looked over his shoulder and gave her a nod as he left.

"Well we will let you rest here for now, and sort out details later." Rick said as he got to his feet. "Try to close your eyes for a bit and sleep."

Hershel, who had been standing at the other end of her couch, stepped forward and stacked a few cushions. Lifting her stitched calf, he helped her manoeuvre so her leg was raised and her back settled down on the couch. Her head on the soft cushion behind her, Rebecca fell into the heaviest sleep she had had in months.


	5. Chapter 5

_***hmmm... I know you may be feeling like this is taking a little while to warm up, but it is a short story. It may be over before you know it. Hope you enjoy the slow burn.**_

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Carol asked Rebecca as she roused from her sleep. It was dark outside now and only a few scatted candles lit up the room around her. Carol had brought her a bowl of rabbit stew. The smell of the meat and green beans waking her and making her stomach ache with hunger. Rebecca sat up and thankfully took the offered food from the softly smiling lady beside her.

"Um, better." Rebecca replied shyly.

"We didn't really get to meet earlier. My name is Carol." The woman put a hand to Rebecca's plate to keep it steady as she turned on the couch to put her feet on the ground.

"Thank you for the food Carol." Rebecca's stomach growled as she spooned the first mouthful of the warm meal in after her words.

"No, thank _you _for the food." Carol emphasised. "Rick told us what happened earlier and we are all very grateful."

"Please don't… it's nothing." Rebecca stuttered.

Carol paused. "Well I'll let you eat." She said as she stood. "Most of us are in the kitchen through there if you want to join us. Except Daryl and Glenn who are on watch and Lori who has gone to bed. Lori has the little girl with her at the moment." Carol said, answering the question Rebecca had been about to ask. "Her name is Kitty. She hasn't spoken yet, but it was written in her jacket."

Kitty rescued from a tree, Rebecca smiled to herself as she ate, happy to hear the girl was safe.

"Kitty will be staying in my room with Beth and I after tonight." Carol continued. "Daryl has offered you the last spare bed in his cabin. He is going to be out on watch for most of the night, so you will more or less have the room to yourself."

"Thank you Carol." Rebecca said softly as she continued her meal. Carol turned slowly, her arms wrapped around herself, and left with a nod of her head.

Rebecca finished her meal and put her plate down. She put a little weight on her leg and tested it beneath her. Her stitches pulled a little as her skin tightened from her movements, but it was fine. She looked at her gear beside her on the floor, where Daryl had placed it earlier and she went through the list in her head about it's contents. She had a few mostly clean tees and the spare jeans she had picked up from the campsite earlier. Her knives, pack of smokes and some socks and underwear all loose at the bottom of the bag. She opened her bag and checked that everything she had just thought of was there still. Her pack of smokes was a few emptier than she remembered it, but her attention caught on something else. A photograph sat tucked in next to the pack of cigarettes. She pulled it out and looked at it. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at the photo of her and her brother. How the hell did this get here? She hadn't seen this photo for months thinking she had lost it somewhere. This wasn't even the same bag she had back then. She looked at the image of her smiling face, pressed against her brothers cheek. Her breath came out in a shudder, as she silently sobbed.

Wiping her face on the bottom of her shirt, she tucked the photo back into her bag, and closed it up. She calmed herself and got to her feet, keeping her bag with her, but leaving her bow and arrows beside the couch. She walked to the kitchen with a small hop in her step, as she balanced the bowl and spoon. She peered inside the door way and was greeted by the people sitting around a large table. Maggie and Beth beside Hershel on the far side. T-dog and Carol on this side. Rick and his son Carl leaning against the bench top in the nice sized kitchen. Rick stepped forward and took the bowl and spoon from Rebecca as she entered the room. Placing it in the sink, he turned back and resumed his position against the bench, watching as Carol helped Rebecca to a seat. They sat around the candle lit table, all eyes on Rebecca, as she cleared her suddenly dry throat. Carol gave her a glass of water with a smile.

"How is your leg feeling?" Hershel asked with a slight dip of his head.

"Tight, but good." Rebecca replied. "It's doesn't hurt."

"Good. Maggie or myself will open your dressing and check it again in the morning." He said putting his hand on the shoulder of the brunette.

"Thank you." Rebecca said softly. The room settling in silence.

"Well I think it might be time to turn in." Rick's voice suggested with authority. Rebecca got the feeling that when Rick spoke, it was final. He was the leader and last word of the group. Rebecca felt respect for the man as she could sense everyone else did as well. He was a clear head and a calm voice in a world of chaos and horror. Rebecca moved to get to her feet and felt the hand of T-dog slip around her elbow.

"I'll show you to your cabin if you like." T-dog said with a soft smile. The big man was kind and patient as she stepped away from the table. He grabbed her bag from the floor at her feet and helped her out of the main building, stopping to collect her bow and quiver from the lounge.

As she hopped around the building, T-dog at her side, she caught the sight of a shadowy figure walking near the dense tree line. Crossbow at his back, he stalked around silently, the small glow of a cigarette at his lips.

…...

T-dog left her at her bedside and said a quick 'good night' as he closed the door behind him. She opened her bag on her bed and pulled out a change of clothes and underwear. Looking around the small cabin, she saw it was little more than a pair of single beds and a table with a couple of chairs. There was a bowl of water and a towel on the small table, which she guessed was for her. Scooping up her clothes she limped to the table and sat her pile beside the towel. She unbuckled her belt and slid from her loose, torn and bloodied jeans, dropping them to the floor at her ankles. She stepped out of them and sat down on a chair. She peeled her disgusting t-shirt from her body and dropped it on top of her jeans. Dipping the towel in the bowl of water, she brought the cold cloth to her face and wiped at the grime that was a daily collection in this world.

Giving herself a sponge bath, she cleaned her neck and arms, and the rest of her, stripping from her bra and underwear as she went along. She stood up and dipped the top of her head in the, now less than fresh, water. Scrubbing her fingers at her scalp to rinse out what dirt and oil she could.

Drying herself with a dryer part of the towel, she rubbed her hair and was satisfied enough with the end result. She pulled on her clean t-shirt, a loosely fitting long one, and a pair of underwear. The sight of the bed almost brought a tear to her eye. She left her pile of clothes on the floor beside the table and hobbled her way to the bedside.

She wasn't sure entirely which was Daryl's bed, both were neatly made up and free of any personal items. She took the one furthest from the door, snuggling down in the sheets and blankets. The feeling of the pillow under her head made her happier than all her birthdays and Christmases combined. Even the smell of the old pillow made her happy in an unidentifiable way. She had barely closed her eyes and she was asleep.

…...

'It was his bed, he could climb into it if he wanted.' Said the mischievous voice in Daryl's mind.

He had finished his watch, Rick relieving him at 2am, and entered his room silently, knowing it wasn't just his room any more. He moved in the dark, and quietly placed his crossbow on the table. His eyes on the bed furthest from the door. His bed.

He shook his head at his own thoughts and kicked off his boots, followed by his jeans (after a quick look to make sure she was asleep) which he hung over the seat beside him. He had washed his face and hair in the kitchen before coming to the cabin, the rest could wait until morning. Daryl stepped towards the empty bed and tripped on something on the ground. He kept his balance, and a quick look at Rebecca said he hadn't woken her with his muttered, "What the hell?". He looked down at the pile of clothes on the floor in the dark, and shook his head with a smirk at the bra wrapped around his ankle. Silently giving Rebecca a sarcastic 'thanks', he picked up her clothes and draped them over his jeans on the back of the chair. He slid into the other bed in his jocks and peeled off his shirt, flinging it to the table before pulling the sheets up over himself and turning away from his new room mate.

He listened to the quiet sounds of her breath and closed his eyes to sleep.

…...

When she woke, her head was pounding. A hard drumming beat at her temples causing her to close her eyes tightly and push at her temples with her fists. She was still very tired, but it looked like the sun had already been up for hours. She sat up slowly and rubbed hard at the bridge of her nose.

A glass of water was on the small table beside her bed, and some pills, she ate them up like they were candy, preying whatever they were would take away the throb. She felt warm, well warm considering it was the middle of winter outside. 'Maybe the room was really well insulated', she thought idly, as she turned back her bedding.

Rebecca was alone in the room. The pills and absence of her dirty clothes the only sign anyone had even come in. She turned and put her feet on the floor, rubbing at her eyes and running her fingers through her hair. She grabbed at her bag, on the floor, at the end of her bed and rummaged through for more clothes. Fresh socks and the scavenged jeans. She had only the one bra, which was now missing, but if she zipped up her jacket no one would notice she wasn't wearing one. The jeans fit her well enough, the hems a little high on her long legs, like most clothes. But she tucked the skinny legs into her boots and you couldn't tell. Lacing up her steel caps and zipping up her dark brown jacket, she walked to the door without much of a limp and braced herself for the onslaught of questions she knew today would bring.

…...

The group in the lounge were mostly pretty quiet. The occasional quick glance at Rebecca, getting her stitches checked by Hershel, made her a little self-conscience. But ultimately, the people let her rest, not asking too much from her at all. They had a meal together, the last of the rabbit mixed with a bit of rice, and talked quietly about things they were going to do around the hunting lodge. It seems they hadn't been here very long themselves, maybe only 2 days, from what Rebecca could pick up.

Daryl and Rick had gone out checking local farmhouses that were marked on a hunting grounds map, for what ever supplies they could find. Glenn and T-dog were back on watch, walking along the fence line, circled around the entire facility.

Maggie told Rebecca about how they almost drove right past the place and it was only for Daryl's keen eyes that he noticed a few holes in the ground were a sign once stood and an overgrown driveway. They had found a few 'walkers' moving around the buildings, probably the owners who had closed up and tried to hide from the world. For whatever reason it hadn't worked, but now the group had somewhere a little bit safe and comfortable for the first time in months.

Carol spoke up next to Rebecca, quietly saying that she had washed her clothes for her, and that Daryl had brought her them this morning, before he left. They would be dry in a few hours and she would put them in Rebecca's room for her.

"How's Kitty?" Rebecca asked.

"She is ok, physically. Tired but ok. Hershel says she is in shock and just needs to rest for a few days." Carol said with a soft smile and a tilt of her head.

"Ok, good." Rebecca said, unsure really why she asked. Maybe just to keep the conversation flowing.

"Has anyone told you she looks like my daughter?" Carol asked the stunned silent Rebecca. "Younger, but the same blonde hair." Rebecca heard the deep sadness in Carol's voice, the sound everyone gets when they talk about some one they lost.

"I'm sorry." Rebecca said, her sympathies for Carol. Rebecca twisted her hands, playing with her fingertips, considering whether or not to reach out and hold the woman's hand. She wasn't exactly comfortable with touching anyone, but it seemed like the right thing to do. A comforting gesture. Rebecca shifted her hand and dropped it softly over the older woman's.

"Her name was Sofia." Carol continued. "She was lost and we didn't find her until it was too late." Rebecca bit at her lips, not knowing the words to say to someone in this situation. "Having Kitty here is both sad, and good. If that makes any sense at all."

Rebecca nodded at Carol slowly. Carol released her hand and patted her on the knee. "Anyway, glad your feeling better." Carol said as she got up from the couch and went to the kitchen.

…...

After several hours of sitting around, resting her leg, Rebecca returned to the cabin to fetch her arrows and quiver. She needed to give them a clean and some maintenance after their use the previous day. She opened the door of her and Daryl's room and walked in. She found her bow and arrows on the table, but thought she should take a little look at her leg first as she was feeling a bit of a sting. She took off her jacket and undid her belt and jeans, laying them on the end of her bed. She sat and turned her body so her sore leg was out in front of her on the bed and the other, bent at the knee, tucked under her. She prodded at the bandage, wincing at her own stupid actions. She was about to unravel the bandage when the door of the cabin opened and Daryl walked in.

Looking at Rebecca on the bed, he bit at his thumb nail and turned his eyes away to his own bed. "Ya alrigh'?" he asked curtly.

"Umm, yeah." The shy and blushing Rebecca replied. She shifted her t-shirt a little lower down her leg. "Just making the most of my bed."

"Ya mean _my _bed." The smirking Daryl lifted his eyes and met Rebecca's dark ones.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I couldn't tell last night." A wave of heat hitting Rebecca's face.

"S'alrigh'." He said with a scoff. He turned to leave the cabin after forgetting what he came in for in the first place, running his hand through his hair. "If yer leg is hurtin', tell the ol' man." He closed the door with a soft click and Rebecca let out the breath she was holding. She reached for her jeans and put them back on in case Daryl returned.

She stood and grabbed up her arrows, still a little warm and flushed from what just happened. Rebecca left the cabin and returned to the main building, trying her fucking hardest not to look at Daryl, who was standing talking to Carol, a few yards away at her cabin. She could feel his eyes on her back as she walked away, attempting not to limp.

…...

Rebecca finished cleaning the arrows, straightening the fletching and checking by sight that the shafts were still straight. She picked them all up and placed them back in the soft quiver. A wave of exhaustion took over Rebecca suddenly. It was only early evening, but she hadn't really slept properly for months. Her body's fatigue had caught up with her from months on the run, and now that she had a soft bed, she didn't want to leave it.

She excused herself from the lounge, saying she was turning in for an early night to Carol.

"Do you want me to bring you a plate later?" Carol asked.

"No, I'm ok. Thank you. I just need to sleep." Thinking that, if she turned in early she could get up earlier and offer herself for watch duty, she got to her feet. Rebecca collected her quiver and turned for the door.

As she left, Hershel entered from the kitchen. "Was that Rebecca leaving?" He asked Carol.

"Yes, turning in for the evening." She replied with a soft smile.

"Oh, I had hoped to check her leg before she left." He paused, lips pursed. "I suppose it can wait until morning." The older gentleman said with a stiff nod of his head.


	6. Chapter 6

The sun broke through the curtained windows in the small cabin. Daryl had snuck in again last night and now woke to the rays of light on his face. Rebecca had swapped beds, and fallen asleep before Daryl had come in. His old bed back, the light came through and hit his face, making him regret the exchange.

He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. A twinge of panic hit Daryl as his eyes set upon his room mate. Rebecca was covered in a sweat, beading at her forehead and lips. Her hair was plastered to the side of her cheek, and her sheets and t-shirt were wet and clinging to her body. She had half kicked off the blankets, and her exposed legs splayed from the side of the damp sheet. She breathed in shallow pants, with a pained expression on her face.

"Rebecca!" Daryl whispered harshly. "Hey, wake up girl." He kneeled beside her bed, taking up her limp hand and tapping her on her cheek, trying to rouse her. Daryl felt the heat in her flushed cheeks and put his palm to her forehead. She was burning up. He pulled on his jeans quickly and scooped up her wilted body. Holding her tight against his chest, he ripped open the door, and ran for Hershel's cabin.

Kicking at the door "Open the door! It's Rebecca!" He shouted, drawing attention from the neighbouring cabins, for Hershel.

T-dog opened the door, as he was faster out of bed than Hershel. He stood back as Daryl rushed into the room and placed Rebecca on T's bed. Hershel got to his knees at the foot of the bed, placing his hands on Rebecca's bandage. Daryl lifted her leg so Hershel could unwrap her calf. Her stitched up wound was inflamed and sticking to the dressing. Carol and Lori came to the door first and looked into the room, at the unconscious Rebecca on the bed, and the two men at her infected leg.

"Her leg is infected." Hershel stated.

"No shit!" Daryl cut off, harshly.

"She needs a cold water bath to bring her temperature down quickly and antibiotics immediately." Hershel continued, ignoring Daryl's outburst. Daryl picked up Rebecca again and left the cabin with her body in his arms. He pushed past the women at the door and headed around the back of the main building.

Hershel, Lori, Carol, T-dog, and now Rick and Maggie also, followed behind him. They didn't question his actions but none had any clue what he was doing.

Daryl reached the small two-horse stable, at the back of the main lodge, and opened the gate to the adjoining pen with a swift kick, lifting the latch from the rail. He saw his target and moved promptly to it. He lowered Rebecca into the ice cold horse trough, the water spilling over the side as her body took up the volume.

The others caught up to them just as Rebecca reacted, gasping and reaching for the arms that held her back in the winter cold water. She kicked and clawed as Daryl moved behind her head and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pinning her arms and using his weight to keep her in the tub. His arms across the top of her chest and under her chin, he whispered words to her that no one else could hear. She slowly calmed in the water, her head lolled forward so her jaw rested on his forearm. She began to shake as her hands on his arms relaxed, and retracted her short nails from his punctured skin.

"Ok. Good work son." Hershel walked to the side of the trough. "Give her a few minutes and then we will take her inside." Daryl glanced at the old man, and then returned to his soft whispering. "Maggie, Rebecca is going to need a shot of penicillin, the last we have." Hershel said gravely. "Can you ready that for us please dear?" Maggie nodded and took off back around to the front entrance of the lodge.

"Ok, everybody." Rick started. "Go back inside. Get dressed, it is cold out here." He turned back to the doctor. "Hershel, what happened?"

"I had meant to keep a better eye on her wound. But unfortunately, it didn't happen." He sighed at himself. "This was very rapid onset. Her immune system may have already been battling something else, or her malnourished condition meant the infection took her down faster than normal."

Daryl scowled at the doctor while he made his excuses. Rebecca roused in his arms and took in shallow, shuddering breaths. He softened his hold on her to allow her to breath better and put his mouth next to her ear. "Like me…" He whispered and then deeply inhaled and slowly exhaled so she would hear the steady rhythm of his breathing. He felt her chest rise and fall slower under his palms. Her body had warmed the water to an almost comfortable bathing temperature.

Maggie came back from around the building with the shot and a couple of towels. She passed the needle to Hershel, who held it up and examined the amount of fluid within before pinching Rebecca's thigh and injecting her with the antibiotic.

Rebecca didn't even seem to notice the jab. She continued her steady breathing and started to stir from her semi-conscious state. Her hands slid along Daryl's arms and found his hands, she slowly opened her eyes. Her head lifted slowly and Daryl moved one of his hands to cup her jaw, turning her head softly to the side so he could see her face.

"Ok Daryl. We can get her out now." Hershel said in a defeated voice.

Daryl moved to the side of the tub and scooped his arms under her limp body. He pulled Rebecca up from the water and moved her to her feet. Not trusting her to stand of her own accord, he kept her arm around his neck and his arm around her waist. Maggie wrapped the towels around Rebecca, and Daryl lifted her back into his arms.

As Rebecca came to, she found herself pushed into Daryl's chest, her head at his shoulder. Unlike two days ago, now she only felt comforted, relaxed by his arms and the steady beat of his heart in her ear. She lifted her arm that was dangling beside his hip and placed it on the small of his back, barely firm enough for him to feel it.

…...

She awoke on the couch in the lounge again, blinking at the bright flame from the candles in front of her. Rebecca moved her heavy hand to her eyes and rubbed at her socket.

"She's awake." She heard the gruff southern voice call to the kitchen behind her. Maggie who had been entering the room already, picked up the pace and crouched at the side of the couch. She helped Rebecca who was trying to sit up.

Daryl stood up and moved to the bar, making room for Hershel and Carol to join Maggie at Rebecca's side.

Rebecca gulped her dry throat with a grimace and a furrowed brow. Maggie picked up the glass of water on the coffee table and held it to Rebecca's lips.

"Just a little now. More in a bit." The young brunette said softly.

"How are you feeling?" Hershel asked.

Rebecca just let out a soft moan and closed her eyes. She put her hand to her thumping head and just took a few breaths.

"We are going to give you some paracetamol. It should help with the headache and break your fever." Said Hershel. Maggie held the glass to Rebecca's mouth for another gulp of water, followed by two pills and another mouthful. "Ok, you need to rest. Let the medication do it's work. Perhaps we could take you back to your bed and someone can stay with you?"

Rebecca's head dropped in a heavy nod, eyes still closed. Daryl moved from his bar stool and kneeled at her side. He picked up her hands and wrapped them around his neck, before lifting her once again to his chest. Maggie got the door and followed them through, bringing the glass of water and the bottle of pills.

They entered the cabin and Daryl lay her on her bed. Her leg had already been redressed in a fresh bandage, but she still wore the same t-shirt she had taken her swim in. Maggie stopped at the door and looked in as Daryl helped Rebecca move to a comfortable position. He stood up and walked back to Maggie, taking the glass of water and snatching the pill bottle from her hands. She stepped back as he stepped forward, moving her out the door without touching her. Daryl closed the door in Maggie's face as he turned back towards Rebecca.

"Two pills every six hours." Maggie shouted to the window, then turned and left the cabin, arms folded over her chest in annoyance.

Daryl put the glass of water and pills on the small table beside Rebecca's bed. He ran a hand over his face as she opened her tired eyes and looked up at him standing between the two beds.

"Hey." She whispered with a smile.

"Hey." He copied back. "Feelin' alright?"

"Hmm… yep." She lied, he could tell.

"What d'ya need?"

"A fresh shirt would be nice." She said as she picked up the hem of her tee.

Daryl turned and looked in her bag. He produced a large black t-shirt and turned back to her, holding it up.

"Yep, that'll do." She said as she reached out her hand for his, so she could pull herself up. Daryl helped her up and she patted the space on the bed beside her, gesturing for him to sit. He sat down and watched as she turned slightly away from him, facing the bed head. She began to peel the shirt up her body but her exhausted arms only got the shirt to her armpits. Daryl put his hands to the fabric and helped her lift it over her head. He dropped the stale shirt to the floor as she lowered her arms and looked over her shoulder at him, not to his eyes, but at him. He took in her bare back and her short, roughly cut, dark hair. A few ribs visible, but not jutting out like he had expected. She still had her defined muscles across her shoulders, most likely from the bow hunting. He opened the fresh shirt and held it above her so she could slide her arms in. The brief sight of the side of her breast made Daryl's eyes darken with lust. He closed his eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat, as he slid the shirt down her torso. Using every bit of his strength not to just rip it right back off her. He calmed, promising himself a dip in the icy horse trough if he didn't settle down.

Rebecca turned back towards him as he passed a hand over his face again, roughly wiping away the thoughts in his mind's eye. She lifted her legs to the bed as he got up, pulling the, previously thrown aside, blankets up over her feet. She held them up in the air and looked up at Daryl. "Are you getting in?" She said in a voice that was only slightly above a whisper.

Daryl nodded his head, just a slight dip, and kicked off his boots and jeans. Thankful he chose to wear underwear today, he climbed into the bed as she rolled to her side, facing away from him. He settled on the small bed, at her back. Not pushing up against her or anything, just close enough. She reached her right hand behind her, searching for his. He picked up her fingers in his and she pulled his arm over her waist. He listened to Rebecca's soft breathing as her body relaxed into sleep under his arm. The room growing dark around them as the last light left the sky. He contemplated planting a soft kiss on her neck before deciding against it, choosing to let her sleep instead.

_*__**I must apologise to any medicos who may read this. I have no idea about proper medical response to an infection. I just went with things I have seen on TV. **_

_**Also I would just like to say that I'm sorry my chapters tend to vary widely in length. That is just the way the mop flops. **_

_**Peace.**_


	7. Chapter 7

_***Thank you to Maddy-MarieXO, WayPastMyBedtime, anon guest reviewers, followers and favouriters. Love hearing from you guys.**_

The days that followed saw Rebecca's leg heal uneventfully. The penicillin did it's job and she was feeling worlds better. Bed rest and actual meals returning her to a higher level of health than when she first came to the camp.

Kitty had moved into Carol and Beth's room and was starting to respond to the outside world. Her catatonic condition had had the older woman scared for her health, but as the little girl had started eating and making eye contact with people, her fears ebbed and she just started enjoying the little blonde's quiet company.

Rebecca blushed with embarrassment at her own lack of maternal instincts. She really had no clue what to do with kids. Even Daryl had reproached her for calling to her like a cat the day they found her. She watched Kitty walk beside Carol into the kitchen as the little girl reached up and put her hand in Carol's. Carol looked at her with surprise before turning her eyes to the observing Rebecca and giving her a smile that asked 'did you see that?'. Rebecca smiled back from her familiar position on the couch, nodding her head. The pair left the room and Rebecca was by herself.

The sheer size of the group and room that they shared meant she was hardly ever alone. They just didn't have the luxury of spreading out. So in this rare moment to herself, Rebecca felt the equivalent of unzipping her pants after a big meal. Not that she felt uncomfortable with anyone from this group of strangers who she now found herself with. It was more like she just didn't feel comfortable around people.

She had been a bit of a loner before the world came crashing down. Different from others around her. It was an easy world to be alone in. She could speak to friends through social media, text or call her family, shop online. She would work alone at night at the 24 hour convenience store. She was an older student and didn't know too many people at her university so she kept to herself. Her study would keep her from much of a social life, not that she really wanted one. Even running and archery were solo pursuits. She had shied from people long before the dead walked the earth.

Rebecca had met any physical needs for intimacy through regretful hook ups with uni guys and, before that, boys from her local school. Hardly ever a relationship. She just wouldn't know how to give herself wholly over to another person. The only person regularly in her life was her brother. She stopped at her thought of her brother and again thought of the photo of her and him tucked into her bag. She had surmised it was Daryl who had returned her photo, but hadn't asked him yet. Making a note to herself to ask him when he returned from his hunt, she moved to her feet from the couch.

Lori had entered through the front door, carrying a bucket on her hip. Rebecca moved forward and helped her by taking the pail full of mushrooms and carried them for Lori to the kitchen.

Her leg was feeling all-in-all better, and despite Hershel's request that she rest, her bones began to ache for movement. She was not one to be confined to bed rest.

"I found them outside near the fence line, behind the stable. Do you think they are safe to eat?" The pregnant woman asked the slightly-limping one. Rebecca placed the bucket on the bench and Lori rubbed her swollen stomach idly.

"Mmm…" Rebecca mulled. "I think you are better off asking Daryl. I never ate anything when I was alone but what I caught or came from a can."

Lori agreed, pushing the bucket to the back of the bench and turning to rest her backside against the table top. "Have you talked to anyone about your time alone?" She asked.

Rebecca looked away from Lori's eyes, just to the floor at her feet. She didn't want to talk about it with anyone. Saying some things out loud made them more real, and she wasn't ready to make them real. It was easier to think of her time as a passing dream. Or nightmare. Rebecca was for the most part comfortable around these people, especially Daryl. She didn't want them to regard her with pity or in any other light. Everyone in this world had bad shit happen to them, even these people.

The previous night, everyone had sat on the lounge chairs, or the floor, but for Daryl who had pulled one of the bar stools up to the window behind Rebecca's corner of the couch, so he could stay on watch from the warmth of the small lounge and it's fireplace.

They shared their meal together, squirrel and baked beans, and some had shared a few stories with Rebecca. Glenn doing a lot of the talking, informed Rebecca about their stop at the CDC and Dr Jenner, telling her about what they had learned of the walkers. He had noted at the end, with a look to Rick, about how everyone was infected. It didn't matter if you were bit or otherwise. If you die, you turn. The words left a chill in the air despite the warmth from the fire in the room. It didn't really faze Rebecca. She didn't really see how that changed anything. She still didn't want to die either way.

After that, most people said their goodnights and returned to their own cabins. Beth taking Kitty with her. Only Rick, Daryl and Carol remained in the lodge.

After a stretch of silence, Carol spoke to Rebecca more about losing her daughter. Not in great extent. Just mentioning that Daryl and Rick had gone to lengths searching for Sophia for days, all for it to end with finding her in a barn on the property that had belonged to Hershel and his family. Rebecca had sensed something from Daryl, who sat behind her facing away from the conversation. Like he was holding his breath. Rebecca stood up and moved to the opposite couch and put her hand in Carol's. Her eyes on the still form of Daryl, watching the space beyond the window.

Rick then moved the conversation along to what happened in the nearby town. They were threatened by two men in a bar, who had bad intentions. Rick had taken them down and then, after a shoot out with the men's company, had fled the town full of walkers with an extra person in tow. A kid who, regrettably, Rick had saved from his impaled position on a gate and the surrounding dead. It didn't end well. The actions seemed to have been the last straw to Rick's friend's sanity. Shane, who hadn't really been spoken of at all, had tried to kill Rick. More than once. In the end Rick had taken him out too, but unfortunately it was Carl who had finished the job, shooting the reanimated man over his dad's shoulder. Daryl and Carol listened intently to Rick's words, as he hadn't spoken at such lengths before as to what had happened the night they had fled the farm. After a brief pause, Rick went on to say they had stayed in the area more or less, out running the herd that had driven them from the farm. Staying at abandoned houses or other facilities as long as they could, but this was proving to be the safest and most restful place so far. So long as they could keep a steady food supply, and the fences strong, they might be able to ride out the winter here, and hopefully Lori's pregnancy.

Rebecca pondered last night's conversations as she stood in the kitchen with the watchful Lori. Carol had lost her daughter. Rick had had to kill his best friend, who had some kind of psychotic break. They had lost friends along the way. Everyone had horror stories but only Rebecca had kept hers to herself. She bit at the inside of her mouth, in a decidedly Daryl kind of way, and folded her arms around herself. Lori sensing she wasn't ready to open up, dropped the matter, and got herself and Rebecca a glass of water each.

Rebecca thanked Lori and took the glass of water. She left the pregnant woman with a brief smile, passing Beth, Carol and Kitty in the lounge on their way to the kitchen. Rebecca continued out the front door and leaned against the wall beside the door, taking a few steadying breaths with her eyes tightly shut and her head tilted back.

"Shitty day?" The gruff voice asked her. Daryl had just come around the side of the building from the stables.

She opened her eyes and looked at him. He was dressed in his familiar jacket, vest and jeans, carrying a bunch of freshly skinned and gutted squirrels.

"Take me with you tomorrow." Rebecca sort of asked, nodding at the squirrels. "I need to kill something, I think."

"'Bout yer leg?" He asked with a furrowed brow. "Don't wantcha slowin' me down."

"Yeah well, just you try to keep up." She said turning her head and resting it back against the wall.

"Pfft… whatever." Daryl said with a smirk.

"Oh yeah, Lori is looking for you in the kitchen. Something about it's your turn to do the dishes."

"What?" Daryl sneared, his face screwing up into a snarl.

…...

They sat together at the large table, eating their meal. The fried mushrooms were a delicious accompaniment to the squirrel. The heavy rain clouds outside making it darker earlier tonight.

After some talk of the days events, and Rick and Glenn's assessment of the map they had found, which included a township a few miles down the road, the room fell into a bit of comfortable silence. Everyone listening to the storm rumbling overhead. Lori lit a few candles and sat next to Carol at the table. They all sat together around the tabletop except T-dog who was watching from the rear window, and Daryl whose chair was beside Rebecca's but pushed back from the groups, his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles in front of him. Rebecca cleared her throat softly.

"Beth, could you take Kitty and Carl away for a bit?" Rebecca spoke in a cracked voice.

"What? Why?!" Asked Carl, angrily.

"Nevermind. Go." Said Rick. He had been watching Rebecca's face for the past few minutes before she spoke. Her eyes had dropped and her mouth set in a tight-lipped frown. She had been trying to get the words right in her head before talking to the group.

"Come'on now. Lets go." Beth said sweetly as she picked up Kitty and moved next to Carl who was already on his feet in defiance. "We'll go to my room and play cards or something." Annoyed at being pushed away from the adult room but keen to be, more or less, alone with Beth, Carl begrudgingly left the building with her and the kid.

Rebecca slid her chair back a little from the table, so she could rest her arms on her knees and look at her restless fingers while she spoke. She hung her head and turned it slightly towards Daryl, not looking at him, but letting him know her words were for him.

Daryl sat stone still, not breathing, just waiting for her to talk.

"When I left you, the morning after that night at the worksite, I went to Fort Benning." Daryl tightened at her words, talking about their night together in front of everybody. They didn't need to know his business. She continued, "I made it there, but it was the same as Atlanta. Over run with dead and bombed out. I found my way to a near enough building and set off a smoke flare, hoping that if anyone was still alive they would see it and try to return communication. No one was there, or if they were, they weren't showing themselves." She paused. "With no chance of getting inside the facility, not that there was much left anyway, I just got outta there. That was the end of my search for Ben."

Daryl had known her brother's name. It was written on the back of the photograph he had found, after their first night together months ago, of her with him, not far in the tree line from where her car had been stopped. He had picked it up and put it in his shirt pocket, not sure why. He had got it out and looked at it several times over the past few months, when he needed something good to hold on to. Her first night with the group, he had placed it in her bag while she slept, pinching a few smokes for good measure.

Rebecca went on, "I drove away aimlessly for a few days before hiding out in a motel room. I caught some guys trying to siphon the fuel from my car, not realising it still belonged to a living person. They were apologetic and asked if I needed any help. I told them I was alone and asked them where they were headed. They said they were moving South and something about Florida. I thought about heading back to outside Atlanta to see if I could find you." She glanced quickly at Daryl before looking back at her feet. "They asked me if I wanted to join them and I agreed saying I would tag along for a little while, thinking they were going right past and I didn't want to make the journey alone."

"The group was large." She continued. "About 30 people, mostly guys from Northern states, New York and Pennsylvania, some with family, women and children. They seemed ok enough. We travelled for a few days South before stopping at an abandoned farmstead. One of the women got sick and we couldn't travel. Pneumonia, I think. I didn't have anything to listen to her chest properly but it sounded like fluid in her lungs. I didn't know enough about the condition to say whether it was or not. The woman's husband got angry at me and punched me in the jaw. Suddenly my position in their group was downgraded, and I found myself in a dangerous place." Rebecca stopped and wiped quickly at her eyes. She steadied her breath as Daryl shifted slightly in his seat, his eyes on his boots in front of him, mouth pulled in tight.

"My knife was taken off me and I was 'kept' by some of the guys who had been in charge of salvage, which is what, I discovered, they called stealing from other survivors along the road. 'We'll look after you sweetheart'." A shiver ran through Rebecca as she recalled his voice.

"It was only one guy who… hurt me." Her voice was soft and on the verge of breaking all together. "He would come to the den where I was locked at night. Tell me if I hurt him, he wouldn't come alone the next night." A stream of silent tears suddenly skating over her cheeks. She stopped, the sobs hitching her voice so she couldn't speak. Abruptly, Daryl stood up and kicked his chair into the corner. Rebecca was suddenly aware of the room full of people around her. She had forgotten while she was lost in her nightmare. Daryl went and stood at the bench, facing the cupboards on the wall in front of him. His grip on the bench top turning his knuckles white. Carol and Lori both with tears wet on their cheeks. The men a mixture of sour and angry faces.

Rebecca cleared her throat and, through her cracked voice, continued. "I was almost starved and …used, for about two weeks. I had no energy, and no will to live anymore. One day I was taken on a salvage trip into a deserted town. I was planning on killing myself. With so many ways to die in this world, I was ready to leave it any way possible." She sniffed and sat up in her seat to look at the group around her, and to Daryl whose head was dropped forward, breathing heavily through his nose, back still turned to the group. "I was shoved into an empty hunting supply store, told to look for any loose ammo of any kind. My rapist telling me to scream if I needed him, and I was left alone. I looked around the store, hoping to find a knife or something to slice my wrists open. It was pretty cleaned out. A few loose shotgun shells around the floor, some clothing items strewn about. It wasn't until I walked in the back room and found the personal lockers that I really took any interest. One locker belonged to a girl who had worked in the store. There was a back pack on the locker floor with some smokes and a lighter in it, along with a love note from some dirty minded teenage boy. I sat down and read the note, lighting one of her smokes. It was sweet, in a dirty teen boy kinda way. It made me laugh anyway. I stood up and put on her jacket, my brown jacket, and just imagined her life, pre-end-of-the-world." Rebecca smiled softly to her memory. "I looked around the office and found a compound bow and quiver full of arrows just sitting on the managers desk. When I reached for it, I also saw a knife on the floor behind the desk. I stood there looking at it for ages. I felt like the room was giving me a choice. Take the knife and end it now, or take the bow and make a run for it. I ended up grabbing both and leaving with the girls bag and love note via the back door. I had no direction or means or food. I just kept going. And I ran. I fucking ran as fast and as far as I could." Rebecca sat up straighter in her chair and wiped at her last tears.

"At some point, my arms remembered how to fire an arrow. I had been an archery competitor in my spare time before the end of the world. I won a lot of trophies at various events for years. But using a bow on a stationary target was much easier than using one on a rabbit. Eventually, I got better at feeding myself and learnt how to defend myself against the walkers. I honestly have no idea how long I was by myself. The first living people I saw, for what must have been months, were Kitty, Daryl and Rick. I was starting to think maybe I was the only human left alive on earth." She said with a tired scoff.

The silence around the room, was deafening. No one had any words to say. Glenn was the first to speak. "You're not alone anymore." He said in a weird way as he leaned towards her and rest his hand on her shoulder.

Rebecca smiled at his hand and rolled her eyes. "I know that. Thank you Glenn." She wiped at her wet cheeks with a smirk.

A few scattered smiles broke around the table as Rebecca removed Glenn's hand from her arm and rest it back on the table with a pat.

Daryl unexpectedly turned and left the room without so much as a glance at Rebecca.

Maggie got her a glass of water and a few anti-inflammatory pills. Saying 'good night' to the group she gave Rebecca a stroke on her arm as she walked past her. Glenn got up and followed Maggie and the others soon left too. Carol giving Rebecca a soft hug around her shoulders and a kiss on the top of her head before leaving the kitchen. Only Rick remained with Rebecca.

"I know that was hard. You didn't have to share that with everyone." He said to her, looking up through his eyelashes from his turned down head.

"Yes I did." She whispered. Rebecca realised that everyone had shared their pain with her and it was through their shared grief that they had all come to trust one another. "It's only going to get harder."

"Why is that?" Rick asked, furrowing his brow.

"How am I suppose to talk Daryl out of believing it was all his fault for letting me go." She sighed and got up from the table, leaving the room.


	8. Chapter 8

Rebecca opened the door to the cabin where, as predicted, Daryl was stalking around, pacing the small room and with his fists balled at his sides. He spun around and saw her at the doorway. His face twisted in an angry sneer as he moved towards her. Daryl grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the room, slamming the door closed. Rebecca fell behind him to the floor.

Daryl had his back turned to her with his fists pushed to the door and his head hanging low between his shoulders. He was breathing heavily through his nose, his wide back heaving with each breath. Rebecca stayed at the floor of the bed and just sat back, knees up to her chest, waiting for Daryl to explode.

"What the hell did you leave me for, ya stupid bitch?" He spoke in a harsh whisper.

"Daryl…" Rebecca started, but didn't know what to say.

"What was his name?" Daryl was speaking slowing, pronouncing each word with a venomous tone.

"Who? My brother?" Rebecca was about to ask Daryl about the photographs mysterious appearance in her bag when he cut her off.

"The fucking rapist!" Daryl spat as he turned around. Scowling at her position on the floor, he stomped over to where Rebecca was sitting and grabbed her by her upper arms, pulling her roughly to her feet.

"DAVE! HIS NAME WAS DAVE!" She shouted in his face, trying to shove off his hard hands.

"Was he with some punk named Randall?!" Daryl's face was only inches from hers, he shook her by the arms.

Rebecca pulled back, surprised by his knowledge. "Yeah, there was a kid named Randall." Rebecca said, her eyes darting back and forth between Daryl's "How did you know that?" She hissed.

Daryl released his grip, spun around and slammed his fist into the plaster wall behind him. He turned to the door, almost ripping it off its hinges as he flung it open, and left.

Rebecca rubbed at her eyes and the bridge of her nose. She thought about following Daryl and asking him again how he knew about Randall. He had left the room. 'Maybe he just needed some space.' she thought to herself as she looked at the fist sized hole on the wall in front of her and rubbed at her arms where he had grabbed her hard.

She climbed out of her boots and jeans and laid down on the bed. Her leg was feeling good but her insides were a swarming cauldron of snakes. She fell into an uneasy sleep filled with bad dreams.

_***I don't know if you can call this a chapter. Don't worry, I will post the next full chapter tomorrow and I promise, it is worth the wait.**_

_**To my reviewers - WayPastMyBedtime, thanks for the great words. It really made my day. The sentence in question was suppose to say "He would tell me that, if I hurt him, he wouldn't come alone the next night." I tried to think how I would say the line and it came from my mouth as barely a mumble, hardly wanting to say it at all. Unfortunately, that was kinda hard to convey. Sorry for the confusion.**_

_**Phinale, glad you're loving it. I don't make promises I don't intend to keep, so I can't say anything about her brother. Thanks for your review, I really appreciate it.**_

_**Kittykatluvur777, thank you. I know this chapter was shorter than you meant. Tomorrows will be quite long and I felt that this little bit of intensity could stand alone.**_


	9. Chapter 9

_*** Yesterday's viewership peaked at 279, my story's highest yet. Thanks to all of you who are reading and following my story. Love to hear from you.**_

Daryl hadn't returned by the next morning. Rebecca had slept lightly, waiting for him to come back. She dressed and took a drink from the stale glass of water beside her bed.

Taking the cup with her, she made her way back to the main lodge. It was very low light outside, the pre-dawn, post-storm fresh smell, perfumed the air. Rebecca pulled her jacket tightly around her as she entered the building, frost puffing from her lips. Happy to see Rick at the fireplace, she said a quick 'morning' and continued her way to the kitchen. Her eyes caught on a blanket that was bunched up at the foot of 'her' couch beside Rick. Her eyes flicked to Rick who was watching her with a heavily furrowed brow. She pointed to the couch, silently asking 'who slept there?'. Before he could reply Rebecca realise it had been Daryl's make-shift bed for the night. Had he been that upset at her?

Rick stepped forward and put his hands on her arms. Rebecca winced slightly as his hands closed on the bruises Daryl had left there last night, but kept her eyes on Rick's sad face. He dropped his hands slowly and said that Daryl had found him last night and told him about Dave and Randall. "Randall was the kid I pulled off the iron fence. Dave was one of the men I shot in the bar, along with a big guy named Tony."

Rebecca stepped back in surprise, blinking at Rick's words. She swallowed the hard lump in her throat and quietly asked "Where is Daryl now?"

"He slept on the couch last night and left to hunt just before you got here."

"Was he… ok?" She asked.

"Yeah. He'll be ok." Rick replied, watching the tears teem into Rebecca's vision.

She nodded her head and turned away, back towards the kitchen.

…...

The day had warmed from the sun and Daryl had returned with a few rabbits and a squirrel at around midday. He cleaned and gutted the kills, and deposited them in the kitchen, looking around for Rebecca but not sure what to say when he saw her. He didn't see her.

He left the building and walked slowly to the cabin, trying to talk himself into an apology for his outburst. He still wasn't sure he would be able to say it when he opened the door to the small room. She wasn't there either.

He turned around and saw Carol with the kid. "Y'all seen Rebecca today?" He asked with a nod.

"Yes, she was around earlier. Not sure where she is now." Carol replied.

Daryl closed the door and stalked off, biting at the inside of his cheek.

He walked around the back of the cabins and circled around to the stables. Not seeing her there either, he walked around the front of the building again. A small wisp of smoke escaped the slightly ajar passenger window of the jeep, parked near the front entry gate. A wave of relief washed over Daryl, and he walked over towards the car.

He stalked around the jeep, reached for the handle, opened the driver side door and climbed in. Rebecca was laying in the reclined passenger seat with her boots up on the dash. A cigarette between her long fingers of one hand, a crinkled up and torn piece of paper in the other. She didn't look at him, she just sucked a long drag from the cigarette and passed it to Daryl.

He took it between his thumb and index finger, and put it to his lips, just looking at the steering wheel in front of him.

"You make me wanna rip all your clothes off and eat you out on Mrs. Arnica's desk." Rebecca smiled, reading from the teen love letter in her hands. "Your dad doesn't know it, but I'm gonna sneak in your room one night and steal you forever." She kept her eyes on the note in her hands, sighing at the terrible hand writing and clumsy words.

Daryl reached over and took the paper with a furrowed brow, cigarette in his down turned mouth. He read over it quickly, his eyes moving down the page. "My mom is working late night's next week. Come over and I will teach you how to make love." The cigarette bouncing on his lips as he spoke.

Rebecca burst out laughing at Daryl's quotation, clapping her hands to her face. Daryl folded the note back along it's crease and passed it back to her as she collected herself, wiping a tear from her cheek with a last little giggle.

"You ain't thinking 'bout leavin' again are ya?" He asked quietly

"Where would I go?" She replied, coolly.

"I'm sorry I snapped atcha." He said dropping his head.

"I know." She replied in a soft voice. She wasn't mad at him, just world-weary. She put her hand on the seat between them, palm up. He put his hand on hers and gave it a soft squeeze. "Ya left without me, ya bastard." She smirked at him.

He chuckled. "Yeah, didn't wantcha ta slow me down." He said in a gravelly voice with just the wisp of a smile on his lips.

"Tomorrow morning. Got it?" She said dropping his hand and pointing a finger at his chest.

…...

Daryl woke Rebecca when he suddenly pulled her hard against himself, responding to a nightmare he was having. He jolted awake himself and quickly realised where he was, releasing his grip around Rebecca's waist.

Last night, he had seen the bruises that he had put on her arms. Hating himself, he climbed into his own bed. Rebecca had sat up from her pillow and looked at him quizzically. She pulled back the covers and got up, climbing into his bed, under the blankets. "I forgive you Daryl Dixon." She mumbled with a huff. He bit at the inside of his mouth, but let her slide her back against his front under the covers. He put his hand at her waist and she grabbed it, pulling it over herself like more blankets.

Now it was the morning and he'd woken her by squeezing the breath from her body. "It's ok. Your alright." She soothed holding onto his hand at her hip. He relaxed his muscles and slowed his breath. "Who's Merle?" She asked, wondering at the name he had muttered in his sleep.

"My brother." He returned, pulling his hand from her hip and rubbing his face.

She rolled over to look at him and put her head back on the pillow. Daryl suddenly felt a little self-conscience at the face-to-face position he now found himself in with her. He hitched the sheet and blanket up under his arm and moved back towards the edge of the bed behind him.

Rebecca saw his movement but didn't mention anything. "Wanna tell me about him?"

"He's a tough son-of-a-bitch. Cut off his own hand when he was handcuffed to a roof top in 'Lanta." Daryl said with a smirk. Rebecca raised her eyebrows but didn't speak, she just let Daryl continue on. "Dunno where he's at now, but I know him. No one can kill Merle, but Merle."

Rebecca let out an amused puff of breath. The first streams of light were coming in past the curtains now. She rolled to her back and looked up at the roof. "So are we going or what?" She asked him.

"Getcha boots." He said pushing her lightly out of bed.

She rolled out of bed and stood up. Daryl watched her as she moved to her jeans draped over the chair at the table. The curve of her behind just visible under her t-shirt as her underwear had slipped between her cheeks. He surveyed her as she stepped gracefully into the faded denim and buttoned her fly. The days of, more or less, bed rest and a few good meals had done her good. She wasn't as pale as when he first saw her a week ago and her eyes not as dark, now that she had had a few nights of proper sleep. Sleep, which he was surprised by how comfortable he was curled up against her, night after night.

He tore his eyes from her body as she picked up her bow and examined it. Daryl stood up and pulled on his own jeans and boots, along with yesterday's shirt. He picked up his leather sleaves and vest and shrugged it on, doing up the buttons.

Rebecca put her bow on her bed and pulled on her grey hoodie and brown jacket. She zipped up the snug fitting leather and adjusted the neck of the jumper underneath. She lifted her eyes to Daryl, who pushed his hair away from his face and buckled his belt. Her eyes, following his hands, fell for only a brief second to the front of his jeans and she dropped her head, smiling to herself.

They collected up their assorted weapons and Rebecca followed Daryl out the cabin door.

Passing by Rick and Glenn, at their watch, Daryl motioned to Rebecca behind him, "Goin' huntin'."

"Ok. Be careful." Rick said, more to Rebecca than Daryl.

"Yep." Daryl replied. Rebecca just gave a slight nod to the group's leader and a brief smile to Glenn.

…...

The pair walked in silence. Stepping quietly and listening intently to the wet forest around them. There was very little snow as the previous day of sun, had cleared the ground somewhat. They were in a hunting reserve. Most likely the private property of the lodge owners. This meant it had a large fence around it and was secure from walkers. Daryl had discovered it the day after Rebecca's arrival, while on watch. He had since explored it and hunted it daily. Rebecca pulled a tight lipped smile at the 'No Trespassing!' sign as they walked on.

After half an hours trek, Rebecca's stitches were starting to pull a little at her shin. She kept moving, her body a little sore also after days of inactivity. Not that she would admit it to anyone.

They came to a stop as they reached Daryl's destination. The trees opened to a wide creek with green grassy banks. From their position they could see down the body of water in both directions. Daryl went and sat on a large smooth rock, that came to about knee high, beside the water.

Rebecca joined him and sat beside Daryl on the short boulder, her body slightly turned away from his from the curve of the stone. She could see why he chose this spot. There were tracks and animal paths coming from all over, towards the river. A few yards downstream the water broke into a larger body of water that seemed a particular favourite of rabbits.

She leaned her bow against the rock between her and Daryl and took her drink bottle from her bag. She had a quick mouthful of the cooled, boiled water and passed it to Daryl. He took the bottle with a slight nod and drank. The sound of the moving water, trickled around the air. The soft movement of the trees in the gentle wind was so serene. A person could almost forget how horrible the rest of the world was.

The two sat in silence. One watching upstream, the other watching down. Rebecca would occasionally cast a quick glance at Daryl, taking in his peaceful form. He was more at home out here than he ever would be with the group. She could sense his soul at rest as his eyes scanned around the tree line. His eyes flicked to hers for a split second before she looked away. She smiled to herself as she felt a warmth flush into her cheeks. She had been thinking about his lips when his eyes had caught hers. She suddenly had the feeling that he had heard her thoughts, and blushed.

"Getting' bored or sum'in?" He asked with a smirk.

"No." She replied sheepishly.

He turned towards her slightly, regarding her over his shoulder. He looked at the hair she had draped over the side of her face. She had let it fall, partially trying to hide her warm cheeks from him. He twisted around and reached for her hair. His sudden action making her spin her face back towards him. He picked up a strand and held it up, repeating the same motion he had done so many months ago.

"So where'd it all go?" He asked dropping the wave. She tucked it behind her ear, some of it falling back.

"Shortly after I was on my own. I was looking around an empty house for some clothes, food, anything." She began, looking at her bow that she was playing with in her hands. "I opened a walk-in robe that had a lamp table knocked over in front of it, not realising it was wedging the doors closed. Two corpses came at me from it's depths. As I turned, one of them grabbed my plaited hair and pulled me back. I fell to the ground, and the other one dived on top of me. I found a lamp in my hand and smashed it over it's head, rolling it off of me. I kicked the other one away that was pulling me towards it by my hair. It loosened it's grip on me and I managed to crawl away and get to my feet. I got the fuck outta there." She ran her hand through her hair absently. "I ran until I came to a creek a bit like this one. It was hot and I was still shaken, so I walked into the water. Clothes and all. I took my knife from my belt and sawed at my plait, as close to my neck as I could." She pulled her arms around her a bit, a slight chill ran through her spine.

"Suit ya better anyway." He said with a shrug.

"Oh, you're the expert are you?" She said with a smile, looking at the water near her feet.

"Pfft… shud'up." Daryl replied, bashfully.

Some late-season migrating ducks suddenly came down from the sky and landed in the open water. Rebecca and Daryl both eyed them hungrily. Duck meat would make a nice change.

"You know the problem right?" Rebecca whispered to Daryl, referring to the ducks. "We take out one and the others fly away."

"Hm." He replied, thinking the same thing himself.

"I think I can get one on the water, and depending which way they take off, maybe a second in the air." She looked to Daryl. "What about you?"

"Pro'ly take me longer to load this thing than you." He squinted at the ducks. "One on the water."

"Think three is enough"

"They're some fat-ass ducks. Might be 'nuff." He said checking the bolt was sitting correctly in his crossbow and looking down the sight.

Rebecca gripped her bow in her left hand and placed an arrow under her middle finger, resting it against the upper limb. She drew another from her quiver and loaded it between the nocking point and the arrow's rest. She set her sight and pulled the bowstring back, giving Daryl the signal to shoot. He released his bolt at the same time she let her arrow fly. Not stopping to look, because she knew her arrow had found it's target, she loaded her second and let fly at a duck in the air, taking flight to their left. Bringing this duck crashing through the tree branches, it fell to the ground beside the river bank. Daryl had reloaded and was looking for another duck, but they already had too much distance in the open sky. He lowered his weapon with a huff.

Rebecca looked at her ducks and turned back to Daryl, holding up two fingers with a smirk.

"Whadda ya want? a medal?" He said with a twist at the corner of his mouth and a flicker of amusement in his eyes.

They walked down the waters edge and collected the riverside duck, arrow through it's chest. The other two duck were bobbing against some tall grass on the other side of the river.

"I'll go." Said Rebecca unlacing her boots.

"Wrong. Yer stayin' here. Watch ma back fer walkers." He disagreed, stepping towards the water, kicking at his own boots and taking off his leather.

"Not if I get there first." She said ripping her belt open and dropped her jeans, stepping from them in a flurry as she shrugged off her jacket and unzipped hoodie.

"Get out of it!" Daryl teased, he put a hand to her shoulder, pushing her away towards the trees. She turned and pushed herself away from the pine, ducking under his arms as he tangled his legs in his own jeans.

She ran into the river, the icy water stealing the air from her lungs as she stepped through the knee-high water in her underwear, socks and t-shirt. She moved quickly towards the ducks and picked them up from the reeds. Turning, she tossed them to Daryl, who had finally untangled himself from his denim and was standing there in his own shirt and shorts. He caught them, with a grumble under his breath, as she waded back towards him.

She smirked as the mischievous thought popped into her head. Daryl had turned around to drop the ducks with the other, beside her discarded pack. She kicked a splash of the ice cold water at his turned back. He gasped and spun around, eyes wild and a wicked smirk on his lips. He walked back to the river's edge with a stomp, comically in his underwear and sleeveless shirt.

"Like the water so much, have some more." He scooped up as much as his large hands could hold and threw it at Rebecca. The blast of frosty water splashing her from top to bottom. She kicked more at him from her position in the water and lost her balance. Over correcting, she fell back the other way towards the deeper part of the river system. She landed on her backside in water that came up to her neck. The water consumed her, vacuuming the air instantly from her chest and ran a bolt of pain up her neck, giving her a brain-freeze like ache in her skull. She gasped a lungful of air as Daryl ran into the water to pick her up. She couldn't get her mind past the frozen feeling her body was locked in, paralysing her in the water.

A decaying hand suddenly wrapped around her wrist in the icy depths.

Daryl reached for Rebecca, pulling her up from the water by the front of her shirt. The single arm, head and torso of a water-decomposed ghoul was dragged from the water with her. It's skinless hand gripped around her arm like a vice. Rebecca couldn't even scream, her body still locked in the shock from the water. Daryl wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him, and kicked at the face of the half-walker. The first kick did little to loosen the killer, merely sliding the nose and flesh from it's face. The second boot and third, smashed into the skull, destroying the monster. It's hand loosened from Rebecca's bruised wrist as it fell back into the water.

Daryl held Rebecca against him tightly, her body feeling as icy cold as the water around his legs. He moved her towards the river's edge, keeping her on her feet through the water. They stumbled to the bank as Rebecca's legs gave away from beneath her. Daryl placed her down on the grass and sat behind her, wrapping himself around her back and arms. She pulled her knees up to her chin as her body began to convulse uncontrollably. Holding her firmly against his chest, he rubbed down her arms and willed her to warm up from his body heat. She shook and took in shuddering breaths. Her throat constricted and suddenly she burst into deep sobs. Daryl shifted a little off side and pulled her head back gently on to his shoulder. While he couldn't think of any words, his head pressed against the side of hers, soothing her adrenalin filled body, her shaking began to soften.

She turned in his arms and sunk her face into his neck. Her sobbing ebbed away into just the occasional sniff. He stroked at her head and rubbed her shoulders, letting her calm down before they had to move. The cold air began to whip around them on the ground, as the sky started to cloud over. Rebecca's crying had stopped but she still hadn't lifted her face from beneath his jaw. He put a hand to her cold face, and tilted her head away from himself, as he leant back a fraction. Her wet eyes met his and he saw the tiniest light flickering behind her dark glass. His eyes flit briefly to her blue-tinged lips and back to her eyes, as a heat rose from his stomach to his face.

Hesitantly, Daryl leant forward and pushed his mouth to hers. He held it there for a moment before kissing her again, lips slightly parted. She responded with the barest of movements, tilting her head more towards Daryl. Holding his lips to hers for as long as he could, his eyes shut tight, his grip around her shoulders tightened. He kissed her harder as her lips finally parted to his.

The chill left her as a warmth spread though her lips and between her legs. Her thighs shook, but not from the cold air or water. Her hands had been folded at her abdomen. They now clenched at the wet folds of her t-shirt, trying to hold onto something as she felt like she might fall off the earth.

Her mouth opened further as Daryl pushed in harder to the kiss. Their tongues swiped, tentatively at first, and then deeply into the other's mouth. Rebecca's hands left her shirt as she turned and put them around Daryl's neck. Daryl pulled Rebecca against him, trapping her with his legs wrapped around her. He slid his hand at her jaw around to the back of her short hair. Her tongue pushed firmly at his in her mouth.

Daryl felt himself harden as her breast pressed against his chest though their wet shirts. Her hard nipple like a stone in his ribs. The sudden rush of blood to his crotch brought him back to the real world, away from her mouth. He slid his arms to her ribs and, with a last lash of the tongue, pushed her away. Her swollen red lips and hazed eyes, beckoned to him and begged him to go further than just a kiss. He moved back slightly, putting a bit of space between his erection and her hip that it was pushed into. She breathed heavily, looking into his eyes, as her hands dropped from his neck to against his chest.

He just stayed there beside her for a minute, watching her eyes changed from their hooded sad gaze to one of acceptance that the moment had passed. She dropped her hands from his chest and wrapped them around herself. He turned away and stood up with an angry sniff. He picked up their clothes and stepped quickly in to his jeans.

When she didn't get moving, he walked back to her and held out his hand to help her to her feet. She grasped it lightly, looking up at his turned away face. He tightened his grip on her hand and pulled her up. She dropped his hand and dusted herself off. He bent down to pick up his shoes to his left. Rebecca took a step back and put her hands to the bottom of her wet t-shirt. She peeled it up over her body and dropped it to the ground. Hands by her side, she stood they're waiting for Daryl to lift his eyes to her.

He felt, rather than saw, her actions. He closed his eyes slowly and turned, facing Rebecca. Daryl opened his eyes slowly, taking in a heavy breath. His mouth pulled in tight as he couldn't help but slide his eyes to her exposed chest. She heaved soft breaths through her nose, her mouth turned down in a tight frown. He looked back up to her face, taking in her expression.

Daryl turned his eyes to the clothes in his hands and dropped everything but her grey hoodie. He opened it up and put it around her shoulders. She snatched it from his hands and turned away from him. Rebecca pushed her hands into the sleeves, back turned to Daryl, and zipped up the dry material around her. She didn't look back to him again as they dressed in silence.

Rebecca peeled off her wet socks and pulled on her boots. Daryl wanted to tell her that her feet would blister if she walked back to camp like that, but the man was smart enough to know that she would just ignore him and get angrier if he tried to talk to her right now. He promised himself that he would help patch up her feet when they got back to the cabins and she had had time to cool off.

Throwing the wet clothes into her bag and picking up her quiver and bow, she ignored the man watching her while he finished dressing and collected the ducks. He tucked the foul into his belt by their limp necks after pulling out her arrows and his bolt. She took off towards the path as soon as she had thrown on her jacket and back pack. Daryl held onto her arrows and set his crossbow in his arms as he followed her, giving her a little space, and considered his earlier actions of stopping something that they had both wanted.


	10. Chapter 10

_***What do you guys think of my portrail of the TWD characters? Do you feel like it is them or am I straying? Just curious.**_

Rebecca's feet stung as she dipped her heels in the bowl of cold water. The welts on the back and sides of her feet seemed to hiss as they made contact with the liquid.

She sat alone in her cabin, basically sulking. After coming in and slamming the door behind her, Rebecca stripped off her jacket and hoodie and put on her bra, which she hadn't bothered with this morning, and a fresh, long-sleeved tee. She sat at the table and gradually removed her boots, knowing from the sting at her heels what she was about to see. Her feet had blistered from their silent march back to the hunting lodge. She hadn't done herself any favours, essentially stomping the whole way back.

While she had been mad at Daryl for stopping something from happening between them, she also knew why he did. It was foolish to be so open and vulnerable out there. Not twenty yards from where she had been grabbed by the rotting monster in the water. She realised she wasn't angry at Daryl, but rather, at the world. Angry that the horrors around them could steal everything from her, including the best moment she had had in months.

Her blisters cooled and she took her feet out of the bowl. She dried them and put a few dry, soft flannel strips to the raw flesh. She held the material in position as she pulled on a pair of clean socks, to hold it all in place. She went and lay on her bed, face down and closed her eyes, resting until someone would come get her for dinner.

…...

The duck was delicious and plenty to go around. The ducks had been quite large and the three birds cut up into twelve pieces nicely. Everyone sat around the table, talking and enjoying the cooked bird. Daryl sat at the kitchen window, with his back to the group and Rebecca, on watch. Rebecca and Daryl the only silent people in the room, except for Kitty. But even she was looking around at faces and listening in to the conversation.

If anyone noticed the reserved behaviour of the quiet pair, no one said anything.

After the meal, Rebecca excused herself saying she was tired. The people thanked her and Daryl and said goodnight to her. Leaving the room as she had entered, not showing how much her feet stung, walking with her shoulders back. Daryl watched her leave furtively over his shoulder. He closed his eyes and thought back to their kiss. 'Why the fuck did I stop' he thought to himself. No reason seemed to make sense anymore. At the time he had stopped because they were so exposed to danger. But, fuck it, that didn't seem like enough of a reason now that they were far away from it. He breathed heavily and bit at the inside of his mouth.

"Daryl." Rick put a hand to Daryl's shoulder. "You ok? I said your name a few times there, and you didn't even notice." Daryl shrugged off Rick's hand and looked around the room. 'When, the fuck, did everyone leave?' Daryl thought to himself. Rick stood beside him, hands on his hips, regarding the guarded man.

"I'm fine." Daryl grumbled, standing up from his chair. "I'll take watch out the front."

"You sure there isn't anywhere else you want to be?" Rick asked in his patient voice.

"I said I'm fine, didn' I?" He pulled his crossbow to his shoulder and stalked out of the room.

…...

The morning sun broke through the curtains and woke Rebecca from her uneasy night's sleep. It would appear she only slept soundly now when she shared a bed with Daryl. The man in question hadn't come to their room at all last night.

In a bad mood from her crappy sleep, Rebecca dressed and sought out Rick.

"Daryl has gone out hunting. He slept in the lodge last night." Rick said running his hand through his hair and looking up at Rebecca through his eyelashes in a decidedly Rick kind of way.

"So?" Replied Rebecca in, what she hoped was, an indifferent voice. "I'll take watch today. There is a ladder beside the stable out the back. I was going to climb up on the roof to watch from up high."

"Ok." Said Rick, moving on from her reply about Daryl. "Let someone know if you need help." Clearly, her sore feet yesterday hadn't gone as unnoticed by the former deputy as she had thought.

She nodded her head and left, feeling his eyes on her back as she walked away. Going past her room for her smokes, she made her way to the stables and the ladder to the roof. She pushed the pack of cigarettes into her back pocket and climbed to the top. Hauling herself the last bit, she got up and walked over to the apex of the shallow roof. It was mostly flat, but for a slight angle to allow the rain to run off to the front and back of the building.

She had wanted to watch from the roof as it also gave her some time alone, away from the group. Months by herself had her practically screaming for company, now all she needed was to be left to her thoughts.

She pulled a cigarette from the pack and brought it to her lips. 'Only three left' she thought as she closed the box and lit the one in her mouth. She only smoked when she was upset. Thinking of her time with the group she had only brought out the smokes once before. After her little chat with Daryl about Dave. Rebecca pulled her crossed knees up to her chest and hugged herself as she puffed away.

She looked around the cabin grounds. It was a good spot to watch from. She could see a little way through the trees all around the fence line and took a few minutes to really look. She then saw Glenn standing at the front gate near the cars. He was facing her with a hand shielding his eyes from the sun. She put up a hand, gesturing a wave to the Asian kid. He waved back and turned away, walking the perimeter of the grounds. She had thought of him as a kid but he was only 4 years younger than her. They had discovered that while chatting at the dinner table one night. But his compassion and humanity made him almost seem naïve. And that naivety give the impression he was more youthful than his age dictated. Either that, or Rebecca was more world-hardened than she thought and aged because of it.

Hershel was clearly the oldest of the group. But she wasn't sure who was next in line. It was either Carol, Rick or Daryl. She made a note to ask Daryl his age when she was speaking to him again. She took a last drag and stubbed out the cigarette on the side of her boot tread, before flicking the butt off the roof.

Beth and Carl were walking around the grounds beside the main building, away from the prying eyes of adults. Rebecca smirked as she spied on the cute pair, talking all bashful like to each other. Lori interrupted their private moment when she came around from the front of the building, asking if the two could join her and Carol at the table for some schooling. 'One day kid' Rebecca thought to herself as she smiled and watched the boy begrudgingly follow his mother inside.

Suddenly Daryl emerged from the woods at the entrance to the hunting grounds. Rebecca watched as his eyes shot up to her on the roof and then back down as he stalked inside the lodge. She reached for her cigarettes and took another from the box, realising she was still pissed. "Two to go." She said out loud, bringing her lighter to the tip of the smoke.

…...

Daryl had emerged from the tree line and instantly noticed the figure on the roof. He surveyed Rebecca briefly before dropping his eyes to the ground and proceeding inside the main building. He went in the kitchen to drop off the rabbits and a possum he had pinned. He hadn't skinned them yet but his thoughts weren't on the food at the moment. He dropped them in the sink and pulled his knife from his belt. Handing the blade to Carol he asked "Think ya can handle it?". She took the knife with a smile.

"Sure." Carol said through smirking lips. "Think you can handle that?" She pointed to the ceiling with one finger, looking up.

Daryl, knowing that she was referring to the skulking woman on the roof, rolled his eyes at her and left the room.

He chewed on his thumb nail as he made his way to the ladder. Feeling the same way he had when he had tracked her down to the jeep. He shook his head at himself. 'Being all scared of a woman, what's wrong with you boy?' he scalded himself in Merle's voice. He put his hands to the ladder rungs and climbed.

Rebecca had heard him coming. He breathed a lot heavier when he was troubled by something. She heard his steps up the ladder and leaned back on her hands, knees still up, cigarette firm at her lips.

He pulled himself up the last bit, after placing his crossbow up onto the roof first. He got up and walked towards Rebecca slowly, dipping to pick up his bow.

Just at that moment, the largest spider Rebecca had ever seen decided to make its presence known by skating right beside her hand. She instantly recoiled and screamed, pulling her hand to herself and pushing herself up to her feet and away from the offending arachnid. Daryl strided forward and stepped on the spider, as Rebecca clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle her scream.

"Jesus woman, I've seen you take down walkers at least three times bigger'n 'at lil' thing. Good lord." He shook his head with a smile.

Rick, Glenn and T-dog all came running to the front of the building armed and ready for walkers, looking up at Rebecca and Daryl on the roof for direction.

Rebecca turned away from them in embarrassment, facing Daryl with her face in her hands.

"False alarm." Daryl called to the men on the ground. "Lil' miss Muffett here is apparently afraid of spiders."

Rebecca crouched down, hiding herself from view of Rick and the others as they turned back to their previous positions.

Daryl turned to look at her, all bent over with her face in her hands. He walked over and sat beside her, biting at his thumb nail again. Rebecca slowly slid her face from her hands and sat down herself. She rested her head on her arms which sat atop her pulled up knees. Feeling a warm calloused hand on her lower back, under her jacket and shirt, she lifted her head and turned her face to Daryl, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"'S alrigh'. I ain't gonna let anything get you again. No walkers, no spiders, no nothing."

She leaned in to him as he wrapped his hand around her hip and moved himself closer towards her. Rebecca wiped at her face, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"How old are you?" She asked.

…...

A few uneventful days passed and Rebecca's feet had healed nicely. Thanks mostly to Daryl, who had cleaned them properly and applied some sort of salve from a plant he had sought out in the woods. She felt good as they walked together to the main lodge in the early morning air.

Entering the building, they saw Rick, Glenn, T-dog and Hershel in the lounge. T-dog stood at the window as the others sat around the coffee table, discussing the area map that was laid out before them.

"If any one of us were to get hurt, or ill at the moment, we wouldn't have the necessary medical supplies to help them heal." Hershel said in his considering doctors voice, continuing from the conversation they had been having.

"That and other supplies are getting low around here too." Glenn added. "We have to make a run."

Daryl and Rebecca joined the group on the couches and listened to the discussion.

With a nod to Daryl, Rick pointed to a position on the map. "We haven't checked out this way yet." He said, referring to Daryl and himself. "I believe this is our best bet."

A road with a small dotting of buildings indicating a tiny township. Glenn nodded his agreement and looked to Rick and Daryl. "When do we leave?" He asked.

"I say today. Why put it off any longer?" Rick stated flatly.

"Ok. Get yer boots on ladies." Daryl said getting to his feet and picking up his crossbow.

Rebecca stood up and turned to the door. "Just let me get my bow. I'll be right back." Daryl and Rick looked at each other, wondering where she got the idea she was coming along.

"You ain't comin'" Said Daryl with a furrowed brow.

"What? Yes I am." She replied, taken aback.

"No ya ain't." Daryl shot back angrily. "Yer stayin' here with the women." T-dog tried not to take offence to Daryl's comment, knowing that he was also going to be staying at the hunting lodge.

"Fuck off!" She said incredulously, turning for the door of the lodge. Daryl stormed over quickly and pushed the door shut before she could open it fully to leave.

"You ain't goin' out there!" Daryl got right in close to her, speaking in a growl.

"Get the fuck out of my way Daryl." She hissed angrily. "I know how to look around buildings and towns, and I know what kind of medical supplies Hershel needs. I am going. You can stay here if you want, but I am going." She said with finality.

Daryl's jaw ticked in annoyance as he realised he was probably going to have to tie her to her bed to keep her here. He breathed heavily through his nose, staring her down, and took his hand from the door.

Rebecca managed to stop herself before she said something stupid, like 'Yeah, I thought so.' She just set her own jaw and opened the door, biting her tongue. She left the building and went to their room to collect her weapons.

Daryl turned his eyes to Rick and to Glenn. Glenn just shrugged in a 'Women. What are you gonna do? Right?' kind of way.

Daryl blushed a bit and turned away, realising that had been a bit of a public display. He flung the door open and stalked out towards the cars and his bike.

…...

The plan was the usual one. Rick and Glenn in the truck and Daryl on his bike. Though now that plan also included Rebecca sitting between the former sheriff's deputy and the Asian. She walked quickly over to the men after saying a brief goodbye to Carol who was just getting Kitty some breakfast.

Rebecca gave a slight nod to Rick as she climbed into the middle seat of the utility. Rick chuckled slightly as he cast his eyes to Daryl who had just started his motorcycle. Getting in the drivers seat, Rick pondered the current relationship between the odd two.

It was only half an hours drive down the country roads until they came to the town. Daryl and Rick cut their respective engines and just coasted silently into the township. It was quiet, but that didn't mean shit. Everywhere was quiet these days, until it wasn't.

Daryl stopped his bike slightly off to the side of the road and kicked out the stand. Grabbing his crossbow from it's mount on the front of the motorcycle, he brought it up to his eye level and scanned the shop fronts.

The truck came to a stop behind Daryl's bike. Glenn got out first and held his shotgun high, looking around. Rebecca climbed out and to the roof of the truck. She stood up and brought her hand to her forehead, shielding her eyes from the bright sun. She looked all around them and then turned to Rick and shrugged her shoulders. It looked, for the most part, deserted. Rick held his hand to her and helped her climb down his side. She jumped the last bit and stood up, brushing her jacket down. She pulled her hunting knife from her belt sheath, favouring it over the bow and machete in close quarters, such as shops.

Glenn climbed into the back of the truck and kept his shotgun raised. He was staying with the vehicles while the others, Rebecca with Daryl and Rick alone, would look through the surrounding shops. Rick nodded to a small doctors office and the only possible chemist in the small stretch around them. Daryl nodded back and walked towards the pale blue building, Rebecca on his heals.

Her back pack at her shoulders was empty, and it swung around as she jogged, keeping close to Daryl. She kept her knife ready and her eyes peeled. He softly opened the door and peered in, crossbow at the ready. The room was dark and had the familiar sting to the nose of decay. He turned slightly and looked at Rebecca over his shoulders. Reaching back Daryl grabbed her hand and tucked her fingers into the waist band of his jeans. He shot her a glare that said 'keep your fucking hand there'. She nodded and he turned back to the room.

Daryl stepped forward through the door, his bow high, ready at aim. A single lifeless perished corpse lay in front of the reception desk in the small front room. Rebecca could barely make out in the darkness, a hole in the side of it's head. Daryl continued to move forward to the rear office of the medical centre, her hand tightly gripped his belt as she kept in step with him. She held her knife in her other hand as tightly as she held her breath.

They proceeded down the hall. Walking with silent steps until they reached the first door. Daryl held his bow high and nodded to Rebecca. She saw his motion and understood it to mean for her to open the door. She kept her hand at his waist but stretched forward with her knife hand, grasping the door handle. She turned it and pushed the door open forcefully. Daryl stepped in and swept his crossbow around the room. A single walker, in a doctors white coat, lunged forward from the rear corner, but was struck down by Daryl's bolt before it had moved two feet.

The room cleared, he stepped forward and retrieved his bolt from the destroyed creature's skull. Wiping it on the former doctor's coat, he reloaded his crossbow and reached behind him to Rebecca's wrist. He lifted her hand from his jeans and gestured to the room.

"Well? Look around." He whispered. Rebecca removed her pack from her shoulders and began looking around the room. She kept her knife in her right hand as she sifted through draws and cupboards with her left. Almost letting out a squeal of delight when she found a draw of sutures, scissors, butterfly stitches, super glue, antibacterial and alcohol wipes. She quickly emptied the draws contents into her bag. Other draws revealed other useful items. On the floor behind the desk, she spotted something else that would make Hershel's life easier. Reaching down she picked up a stethoscope, pocketing that along with a box of surgical gloves that were strewn about the floor.

Clicking his tongue, like he had back at the worksite to get her attention, Daryl caught Rebecca's eye and pointed at his wrist like he had a watch. She smiled but furrowed her forehead and shook her head softly at him. He turned back around, looking out the door, as she started opening desk draws. She found a few personal items and pens and paper, but what she was happiest about, is that the departed man on the floor had been one of those hypocrite doctors that smoked. She put the mostly full pack of cigarettes and the Zippo lighter beside them in the front pocket of her back pack. Satisfied the room was clear, she stepped around the desk and returned her hand to the waist of Daryl's jeans.

He moved forward with a nod at her touch, happy that she could at least follow one order he gave her. They moved back into the hall and down to the last room. As they stood in front of the door, a gurgling, rasping noise came from the room's depths. Daryl readied his crossbow and nodded at Rebecca to spring open the door again. As the door flew open, Daryl spotted the body on the floor, but hesitated. The man was on the ground, not lunging or trying to get to them. He held up his bloodied hands and pleaded with his eyes. The room was littered with bandages and gauze, and soaked in several pints of blood, clearly from the dying man's ripped open wound at his stomach.

"Help… me.." The man on the floor begged. He had clearly been attacked and had somehow survived the horrific gash at his abdomen. He had come in through a back door to this room and tried to stop his bleeding with anything he could find. The floor was completely covered in splatters of blood. Rebecca felt suddenly light headed, as though she might faint at the sight of so much blood. Daryl still held his crossbow up but regarded the man's position on the floor from over the top of his weapon.

Coming to grips with what she was seeing and moving into action, Rebecca released her hold on Daryl's jeans and stepped forward. Daryl grabbed at her shoulder and held on to her jacket. She turned and saw an abstract expression on Daryl's face. Concern, anger, mistrust, pity, he wore them all.

"I don't know what I'm going to do, but I have to do something." She replied to his look. He released her jacket and returned his hand to his crossbow, keeping it trained on the dying man.

Rebecca stepped forward, slipping slightly on the blood underfoot. She looked into a few of the ripped open draws and tried to think of something to help stop the bleeding. Her eyes landed on two locked draws. Hopeful, she lifted her knife to the draws and pried at the locks, trying to jimmy the first one open. After a moment of wrestling with the draws edge, it sprung open and she looked at its contents. Needles, syringes and catheters. She repeated her actions on the other draw and it too popped open with a twist of the knife. She breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at all the little vials. She didn't know what most of them were as she had only been six months into her medical training when the world fell to shit. Six months had just been long enough to learn how to read vital signs and occupational health and safety.

She took one of the vials in hand and read the label 'Diazepam'. Rebecca bit at her lips, recognising the name but not knowing what it was for. She looked at another and another until she came across a name she recognised, 'Morphine'.

Rebecca looked at the man on the ground, bleeding out and in agony. She grabbed at a syringe and twisted on a needle. Stabbing it into the vial she drew out all the liquid she could. Glancing at Daryl, who watched her step cautiously towards the man on the floor, she knew she couldn't save this guys life but maybe could end his suffering. She crouched beside him. Suddenly he reached out a hand and grabbed at her jacket. Daryl stepped forward and pointed his weapon at the guys head. Rebecca quickly put up her hand at Daryl, signing for him to stop. The bleeding out man, held onto her and looked in her eyes. She raised the needle and stabbed it in his thigh, and emptied the entire contents directly into his muscle. It only took about 10 seconds before the guys eyes started to dull and his hand dropped from her jacket.

Rebecca held her breath as the life extinguished from the man before her. She reached forward to his limp wrist and felt for a pulse. She felt nothing. Overdosing him on Morphine was a better death than the torture he was in. Standing, she turned back to the open draws and emptied the contents into her back pack.

She controlled the tight constricting feeling in her throat and packed everything she could find. Daryl kept his crossbow on the lifeless body but his eyes watched as her shoulders shuddered slightly in light sobs. He bit at the inside of his cheek and dropped his eyes back to the man, waiting for him to turn or for when Rebecca could leave the room. She stuffed the last of the clean bandages into her now full pack and slung it over her shoulders. She stepped to Daryl's side and kept her back turned to the dead man. Daryl met her eyes and understood what she was saying with them. He raised his bow and fired a bolt into the man's skull.

…...

Daryl and Rebecca left the doctor's rooms and jogged over to the truck, where Rick had already returned. Rick's eyes shot to the bloody smear on the front of Rebecca's jacket and shot a questioning look between her and Daryl.

"It's ok. We'll tell you about it later." She muttered as she opened her bag to show Rick and Glenn the supplies they had collected. Relief swept over their faces.

"Ok, the store is clear and there are some food supplies under a few knocked over shelves." Rick said.

Rebecca leant her head to the side and let her neck crack loudly. She looked up at Glenn in the truck bed.

"Wanna swap for a bit?" She asked.

Glenn nodded at her and hopped out over the side. He passed his shot gun to her and she climbed up the wheel, into the back. She looked at Daryl, who gave an approving tilt of his head before he turned and followed Rick and Glenn into the store.

They came back with a few bags of rice and flour each and some other items like dried noodles and a few canned goods in a box. They loaded them into the back and Daryl put his hands up to catch Rebecca and help her from the tub. She slung the rifle over her shoulder and straightened her jacket, before reaching for the door handle of the truck.

Daryl grabbed her wrist lightly with a smirk and pulled her by it towards his bike. She chuckled to herself as she turned to look back at Rick and Glenn with a shrug. Glenn laughed a little and Rick shook his head with a smile as they watched Daryl mount and start the motorcycle before Rebecca climbed on the back.

Rebecca hugged around Daryl's waist as he turned the bike and lead the way back to the hunting lodge.


	11. Chapter 11

***ok, it has been a while since I have heard from any of you. I hope this chapter gets you a bit more chatty. Enjoy ;-)**

Relief swept through the group waiting at the cabins when Daryl's bike and the truck pulled into the driveway, and again when they saw that everyone was unharmed and fully stocked with supplies. The dinner of canned vegetables and rice was almost a party compared to some of the sombre meals they had shared in recent weeks. For now, they were safe and fed, and that was so much to celebrate. Even a little of the bourbon from the bar was tipped into a few glasses and shared moderately. The night ended with a warm note of happiness and satisfaction, and people retired to their cabins. Carol and Hershel took watch, insisting the others had done enough.

Daryl and Rebecca entered their room and sat on the opposite beds, facing each other. Daryl, catching her eye, felt self-conscious under her softly smiling stare. Rebecca sensed Daryl's sudden introversion and looked away to the floor at her feet, not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable. She kicked off her boots and stood up, stripping off her hoodie and laying it at the end of his bed, beside Daryl. Her sudden proximity to Daryl sent a tingle to her abdomen. Daryl stood up and walked around her to the table and chairs, unlacing his boots and taking off his shirt.

He had stopped being insecure about his scars around Rebecca a long time ago. She didn't press him about them and soon the story didn't matter anymore.

Daryl looked up and watched Rebecca step her long legs out of her jeans and peel her shirt from her turned away body. She was just as comfortable with him as he was with her. She flicked off her bra and pulled on a short sleeve t-shirt. Brushing her hair away from her face she turned and sat on the edge of 'her' bed, facing Daryl.

Rebecca reached for the stale glass of water on the night stand and took a small sip. Her eyes looked over the top of her glass to watch Daryl step out of his jeans and walk to his bed, pulling back the covers. He climbed in and held up the blankets for her to settle in too. Rebecca moved forward and crawled into the bed, her back to his front. She nestled against his warm skin as he draped his arm over her waist. She lay there with her eyes open, and waited for his breath to settle in his familiar sleeping rhythm. His breathing was soft and baited on the back of her neck, holding some kind of tension as he quietly thought to himself.

Rebecca turned slowly under his arm so that she was face to face with Daryl. His usual edge of discomfort tickled into Rebecca's senses at the direct eye contact in close quarters. He lay with his head tense on the pillow, with his arm tucked up under it, and stilled his breathing. Putting her hand to his torso, she rested her fingers on his firm side. Rebecca pushed lightly on his ribs to get him to roll slightly on to his back. She pushed her body softly up against his side and lay her head on his shoulder.

Daryl brought his arm out from under the pillow and put it tentatively around her shoulders, his other hand dropped more around to her waist.

She burrowed her face into his scent, clean sweat and woody pine, closing her eyes softly and breathing him in. The soothing fragrance relaxed her body and pacified her mind.

Daryl felt Rebecca's soft hair brush at his chin and lips. The body in his arms melting in against his own. He touched his lips softly to the top of her head, closing his eyes.

…...

Her suddenly rigid body jumped like a tightly coiled spring and her hand dug into his side. She sat up, wild eyed, looking around the room like she was trying to find her tormentor in the dark. Daryl grabbed at her, afraid she would fall off the bed.

Rebecca, waking from her nightmare-hazed state, realised she was here, not there, and breathed out a shuddering sigh. Daryl sat up beside her and put his hand around her back, pulling her into him softly. She dropped her head to his chest and panted her shaking breaths. He rubbed at her lower back, calming her fears. His touch ebbing her panic and reminding her that she was here, with Daryl, safe. Her breathing quieted and she stilled in his arms, just being held for a minute.

Rebecca paused for a moment before pushing her lips to the hard chest in front of her. Lifting her head slightly, she dropped another soft kiss on Daryl's collar bone. He shuddered slightly at the soft grazing of her mouth to his skin. Her mouth continued up and planted a longer, firmer kiss on Daryl's pulse. He breathed heavily as his stomach boiled with lust. He bought a hand up to her neck and pulled her slightly away from his skin. Her eyes were heavy and dark, and she breathed softly in to his face as he tilted her head back further. His eyes dropped to her panting mouth and soft lips. There was no stopping it this time.

He lowered his mouth softly to hers, and then pushed in against her lips, deepening the kiss. Rebecca drew her hands up from between them and wrapped them around Daryl's neck, pulling him against her. Their kisses were deep and disciplined, neither of them rushing the moment. Instead choosing to be slow and passionate.

Daryl's lips moved with Rebecca's, their tongues meeting in slow swathes and presses. His arms tightened around her chest, pulling her into him so he could feel as much of her against him as possible. He lowered her back down to the bed, leaning above her slightly. Their intense kisses still drawing both of them in further. Daryl slid his right hand from her back and rested it on her abdomen at the hem of her shirt.

The feeling of his hand on her belly broke her skin out in a wave of goosebumps. She breathed softly through her nose as her mouth continued against Daryl's in waves of rolling kisses. Her toes curled as his hand apparently decided to push her shirt slowly up her torso. Every one of his touches elicited an uncontrollable response from her body. She felt his finger tips graze the bottom of her breast and her nipples tightened into hard little points.

Daryl's mouth moved slowly and deliberately against Rebecca's as his fingers found the soft flesh beneath her shirt. His hand slid over her breast and cupped it softly as his tongue slipped against hers. He felt her chest rise with a sudden intake of breath, pushing her into his hand. He squeezed gently as he pulled his lips back from hers. Daryl's mouth sought out the sweet taste of Rebecca's neck, making her roll her head back and expose her throat to him.

Rebecca sucked in a gasp of air as his lips met her skin. He nipped and sucked at her neck, drawing small noises from Rebecca's mouth. She felt the cool air tingle at the wetness on her neck as Daryl's lips left her throat. He slid his hand from Rebecca's breast around to her back, lifting her off the bed slightly. He dragged her t-shirt up her body as she leaned forward, helping him remove the offending material from between them.

She lay back on the bed as he dropped the shirt to the ground and returned his hand to her waiting chest. His soft eyes looked at her body. Her ribs visible slightly as she lay on her back, her stomach concaved faintly with each heavy breath she took. His eyes lifted and met hers, filled with desire for him. Her hands snaked around his body and lay flat on the muscles near his spine.

Daryl pushed into her embrace, his body against hers. His mouth returning to hers in their unrushed pattern of deep, heated kisses. His weight was propped on his left arm and Rebecca's side, leaving his right hand free to explore. He put his fingers to Rebecca's ribs, beneath her breast. His soft touch and calloused fingers tickling her slightly. His hand moved delicately for a rough man, sliding down her stomach and to her hip.

Rebecca moaned softly as his hand slid around beneath her to her behind. He pulled her a little against him and kneaded her flesh. Her mouth opened further for him, his tongue skated across her teeth and found hers again.

His hand lifted from her rear and slid slowly down her tattooed thigh. Her breath caught in her throat and she stopped kissing him suddenly as his hand moved from the outside to the inside of her knee. Noticing her sudden stillness, Daryl paused his hand and lifted his face away from hers. He looked into her eyes searching for direction, not knowing if she had stopped because she wanted him to stop.

Rebecca hadn't even noticed they had stopped kissing until she saw Daryl's considering blue eyes looking back into her own. Her entire world had narrowed to the inside of her bent knee. Daryl's hand resting softly at her kneecap. She came back to herself and bought her hand to the back of Daryl's right arm, encouraging him to continue. She lifted her head from the bed and placed her lips back against his.

Daryl, getting his answer, returned her soft kisses and followed her back down as she rest against the pillow again. His hand moved slow, achingly so. His restraint clenching his stomach muscles as he followed the inside of her long leg. His hand landed softly at her mound, his touch causing Rebecca to suck in through her lips, around their kiss. He drew his finger tips along the length of her, dancing over the thin material of her panties. A wave of icy tingles ran up Rebecca's side and down her arms.

Daryl pulled his head back slightly, just enough to break their kiss. His lips moved to her jaw in a slow swoop, as his hand sought the waistband of her underwear. His fingers curled under the edge of the material, as hers arched against his back. The kiss and suck of Daryl's mouth, coupled with his exploring hand, driving her towards the edge.

Daryl's slightly rougher movements bought her back to the moment. His hand pulled at the elastic, sliding it down from Rebecca's hip. She lifted herself and he tugged at the underwear, taking it from her hips and slipping it down her legs. He pulled it from her feet as she brought her legs up. Dropping it to the ground on top of her t-shirt beside the bed, he returned his hand swiftly to her center. His lips moved along her neck to just below her ear. His breath puffed softly against her skin. His hand had stilled, for a fraction of a second, with his fingers at her slit. She responded by rolling her hips up into his touch.

Rebecca felt as though every drop of her blood rushed to her core as Daryl's fingers explored Rebecca's wet lips and rubbed against her electrified clit. His mouth at her neck and his fingers circling her pink, she found herself already at the edge of climax.

Daryl slid his index finger easily into her wet core and Rebecca bucked against him, a deep moan escaped from her throat beneath his lips. His digit stayed inside her as his thumb found her clit and rubbed at it gently. She gasped as his mouth sucked at her neck.

Rebecca came instant and hard in his hand, grabbing at his back and writhing to his touch.

He lifted his face from her neck and swelled with pride at the red glow on her cheeks and chest. The soft smile on her lips as she panted and rode out her orgasm. Daryl had never made a woman cum from just his touch before. Never having the chance or desire to. Drunken one night hook ups that didn't even see the morning light, and hardly satisfied.

Rebecca's body quivered slightly beneath him as her breathing slowed and her hands loosened their grip on his back. Her eyes glowed as they settled on Daryl's. His lips twisted in to a small smirk as she brought her hand up to his face and pushed his hair away from his forehead. Paused for a brief moment in each others arms, a comfortable silence fell around them.

Daryl's hand that rested at her mound slid up her stomach and moved around her back at her hip. Her lips parted as he dropped a small kiss on the side of her mouth and then another on the tip of her nose. She pushed her head back to meet his circling lips.

The soft rain of kisses on her mouth set a low tingle in her sternum. Rebecca's hand slid from the side of Daryl's face around to the back of his neck. She breathed through her mouth around his. Her hand continued to his shoulder and down his bicep. It rested on his hard muscle and she gave it a slight squeeze.

Her touch brought his attention away from her lips and he again pulled back to look in her eyes. She spoke with her eyelids as they dropped to a soft hooded level and her parted mouth breathed gently into his face.

Daryl smiled a rare open grin, and dropped his face shyly in to her neck. He turned his body so that his chest covered more of hers. She wrapped her arms tighter around his waist. Daryl went with her movements and turned slightly, moving over her torso.

Rebecca's right knee dropped to the bed as Daryl lifted his over the top. He pushed slightly with his leg between her thighs, sending a bolt of electricity from her womb to her toes. She sighed into his ear as her fingers curled at his back.

Daryl drew his face back and looked at her briefly, before dropping his mouth softly back to hers. She parted her lips as he shifted his weight to the knee between hers, moving on top of her.

The rolling heat moved from Rebecca's face down her neck and torso as she ran her hands up his tight muscles. His tongue skated across hers and his mouth deepened into her lips.

The flame flickered into their passionate kissing. Deeper slow swells and harder lips bit at each other. Daryl's other leg joined his first between hers. He lowered his hips to Rebecca's, pushing his hardness into the space at the top of her thighs through his underwear. She gasped lightly as he rocked against her slowly with the rhythm created by their kissing.

Rebecca's hand slid down to the front of his underwear, between their hips. Daryl seethed as her hand gripped and massaged his hard length, drawing a few drops from the end.

Their kisses heated as she moved her fingers to the elastic of his shorts. She pushed down as much as she could reach without breaking their lips apart. Daryl took over from her hands and shoved down his own underwear. His movements brushed his prick against her hot slit and she moaned into his mouth. Her quivering voice heated his blood and he rubbed his groin in to her again as he dropped his own underwear from the bed.

Hard biting kisses and deep lashing tongues fuelled their movements. Rebecca's hands pulled at Daryl's tight muscular back. His arms tightening in response around her body, pulling her against him. Both breathing heavily, Rebecca's hips lifted and rolled against Daryl. His mouth pulled back suddenly and he looked into her eyes.

Her mouth panted and body tightened, eyes flamed looking into his. She lifted her knees and he reached down hitching them over his hips. His hard length slid down her wet center as she pulled herself against him.

Daryl's breath hitched as he found her entrance and pushed forward into her. She sucked her lips into her mouth and her head pushed back into the pillow. Daryl pulled out from her and inched forward again, sinking further into her core. His eyes glassed as he felt her heat and tightness wrapped around him.

Rebecca quivered as her cunt was filled by Daryl. She pushed up from the bed, rocking and riding with Daryl's tender movements. She bit at her lips and rolled her head in the pillow. Daryl dropped his face to her open neck, breathing heavy hot breaths against her collar.

A deep moan, escaped Rebecca's wet lips and was rewarded with a harder thrust of Daryl's hips. The strokes were uneven and quickening. Each push of his body against hers sending sparks through her core and coiling the wire of her building orgasm.

"Fuck." Daryl groaned in a gravely voice at her ear. His right hand slipped from behind Rebecca's back to under her thigh, hoisting her leg up higher over his hip. Their heated rhythm began to smooth into a regular pattern of thrusts. Daryl began to boil as he pushed deeper and harder into the hot centre of the woman beneath him.

He growled softly and erotically at her neck and sent vibrations into her throat. Her breath was ragged and shuddering as it left her lungs between thrusts. Rebecca's head began to swim as she edged closer to the blissful threshold.

Daryl's hand behind her lower back came out from beneath her and found it's way to the back of her neck. He pushed his body up slightly and moved his mouth to hers for a quick moment, before dropping his forehead to hers and clenching his jaw. He breathed heavy puffs into her face with each thrust. His eyes opened for just a second to see if she was close, because he wasn't going to last much longer. He met her eyes looking at him through haze, her breathing was sharp and uneven.

The eye contact drove Rebecca over the edge as her orgasm lifted her hips from the bed and shook through her body. Every nerve inside her hummed as Daryl's last jerking thrusts crashed through her in waves from her core.

Daryl couldn't control his body any more as he felt Rebecca's sudden convulsion around him. He bucked hard and blew his warmth inside her, gripping hard at her neck and hip. Half a dozen jerking movements and his energy left him with his fill.

Rebecca's thighs shook beyond her control as her breath came and went in huffs in Daryl's ear, his head dropped to her shoulder. Her body vibrated from the inside-out as he relaxed and let his weight drop slowly on top of her. His breathing slowed as his grip softened on her neck and hip. He drew in a long breath of her scent, a mix of sweat and soft earth. The aroma wet Daryl's lips and he drew his face back to look at hers.

A glow and blush across Rebecca's face and chest. Her eyes closed as she rode out the ebbing waves of her orgasm. Her swollen red lips beckoned to Daryl. Rebecca's eyes opened slowly and she looked into his. Their heavy stare changed slowly with her smile. Daryl returned her grin with a small quirk of his lips before dropping his head to her chest, smiling into her shoulder.

He offered a quick nip at her jaw before pulling away from her body.


	12. Chapter 12

*** Woah! 427 views for this story on the 1st of October alone. I'm guessing some of you went back for seconds ;-) Glad you are enjoying my fic. And to my handful of reviewers, this chapter is dedicated to you. It really makes my day. Thank you Carrie, Darkangel8583,Sweetkiwi604 and MaddyMarie1212, thanks for your praise and demands for more.**

Daryl shook his head as he watched her from the roof top lookout. What the hell was wrong with him? That girl was making him soft.

Daryl had shocked himself when he giggled (actually fucking giggled, like some school girl) at Rebecca chasing the little blonde girl, Kitty, around the clearing in front of the hunting lodge.

'Little Darylina, comin' in her panties over some piece 'a ass.' Daryl's self-criticism always came in Merle's voice. 'You best git that outta yer system boy, 'fore she gits you killed.'

Daryl bit at the inside of his mouth as he got to his feet, looking away from that girl and around to the far tree line. All clear.

With their current food stocks, Rick had asked Daryl to stay close on watch instead of going out to hunt. But hunting was when Daryl cleared his head. Being alone in the woods was when he was at his best. A few days of sitting around camp, around her, was sending him bat-shit crazy. Thinking of stupid fuckin' things that weren't _ever _gonna happen. He didn't even know if she thought of him as anything more than just a warm body anyway.

"Fuckin' bullshit." Daryl muttered to himself, after a quick glance back down at her.

…...

Life for Rebecca was a blur of contentment and cruel memories sneaking up on her when she wasn't expecting it.

She would be at the kitchen bench and someone would bump into her accidentally. Her mind would rush back to being pushed over a desk by a forceful hand. Or she would be enjoying a hot meal and her thought's would turn to the weeks of starvation. The clouds only seemed to disappear entirely when she was looking into the safe, blue eyes of Daryl. His warm hands and soothing voice, dispelling any nightmares.

The threat of walkers was relatively low. They had food, shelter and each other. It was the safest any of them had felt for a long time. But in the back of every single person's mind, they could only wonder 'how long could it really last'.

…...

The cabin room was darker earlier than usual. The true winter clouds made it impossible to tell when sunset was exactly. It just got dark all of a sudden.

Everyone had felt the weather settle into a chill at dinner and left the kitchen almost straight away after their meal. Glenn and Maggie sat rugged up together on the roof of the lodge, hoping it wouldn't snow during their watch. Rick, ever vigilant, circled the camp on the familiar path along the fence line. Daryl and Rebecca were to take over watch at 2am.

Rebecca stood quietly at the side of her bed, untangling the few knots that had taken hold of her short hair with her fingers. Dressed in her usual t-shirt and underwear night attire, she watched Daryl, in just his jeans, as he washed his face with the small towel and bowl of water on the table. His back slightly to her, she once again observed his scars as they moved over the muscles in his back, twisting slightly with his actions. She had often wondered about their origin, but didn't ask. People had a right to keep things to themselves if they choose. She had a personally history, just like everyone else.

Daryl dried the back of his neck and shoulders and turned towards the bed they shared. His eyes darted up and caught Rebecca's gaze. He squinted at her and she returned with a small half-cocked smile. Daryl bit at the inside of his mouth as he looked back to the bed, pulling open the blankets. Something was on his mind. Rebecca knew him enough by now to know this was going to go one of three ways. She ignores it and they spend the night in silence. Or she asks him what's wrong and he shuts her down or blows up. Or they talk, and whatever is weighing on him lifts and she has brought a little more calm to the maelstrom that is Daryl Dixon. The reward of a peaceful Daryl is worth the risk of possibly upsetting him. When he was at ease, he was the best and truest form of himself. Peaceful breathing, soft words, and tender gestures.

Unfortunately, it wasn't as simple as just asking him 'what's wrong?' Daryl Dixon is like a wet and frightened alley cat. If you approach it too fast or loudly it will either bolt or scratch you. No, this required precision.

Rebecca closed her eyes and rolled her neck. She reached up behind her neck and rubbed at it, stretching it out as she rolled her shoulders. She let out a slight sigh and a little moan until she saw in her peripherals, that Daryl was looking at her. She leaned slightly away from him so that the hem of her shirt would ride up over her hip. His eyes flicked to the exposed skin and he pulled his lips in to a tight line.

"What's wrong with ya?" He asked, slightly irritated.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. Just a bit tight, ya know?" She said with her lips in a small grimace.

Daryl sat down on the bed and pulled his legs up, sitting Indian style. He gestured to the bed in front of him, still a bit agitated, asking her to sit down. No, it was more like, _telling _her to sit down. She complied as she considered her next move. She sat facing away from him and he put his hard hands on her shoulders. He began softly pulling at and manipulating her muscle under firm but even pressure. Oh it was good. He clearly understood muscle structure as he pushed and rubbed in all the right places. Rebecca's mind went blank as she focused only on his ministrations. A moan came from her mouth before she could stop it. Her voice was startlingly sexy. It brought her back to herself and why she had started this wonderful bodily contact.

"Got something on your mind?" She asked in what she hoped was a unfazed voice. Daryl stopped his movements (to Rebecca's dismay). He left one hand on her shoulder and dropped the other down her back, to her hip. He slid it around her stomach and up under her shirt. She smirked and giggled a little as she put her hand on top of his, stopping his ascent to her chest. She turned around slowly and got to her knees, sitting back on her feet beneath her. Daryl's hands dropped to her waist as she looked into his face, playing with the hem of her shirt in her fingers. "No. I meant the other thing on your mind."

Daryl's face dropped slightly as he realised he had basically been silent the whole evening, maybe the whole afternoon. This wasn't unusual for him around the group as a whole. He never really spoke up unless he was asked a direct question or had something of value to contribute. Not really that chatty, except with her. He liked hearing her voice and what she had to say. So that meant he had to talk to her, to hear her talk to him. But not tonight. He had been too into his thoughts and she clearly picked up on that.

She asked, "What is it? You can talk to me you know."

Daryl's thumb nail went to his mouth and he bit at it, trying to form the words in his head into a sentence. He took his hand from his mouth and looked at his handiwork. He dropped his hand to his lap as he looked up into her eyes. His face contorted slightly as squinted at her and curled the side of his mouth when he finally spoke. "How come you can't get pregnant?"

Rebecca's face changed from her patient smile into a surprised look, complete with a small O for a mouth. That was not what she was expecting at all. Daryl's eyes dropped straight back to his hands after seeing her expression crack. He bit at the inside of his mouth and breathed softly.

"Nevermind. Don't worry about it." Was his hushed response to her stunned silence.

"Oh. Uh… No. I mean, it's ok. I just… just didn't realise we were _there _already." She stuttered, not wanting to shut out the man, who she had just worked so hard to open up. "I mean, I always get asked this eventually… but, nothing. Doesn't matter." She blushed a little as she tripped over her tongue.

Daryl looked back up at her when she let out a weighty sigh. She had a crooked smile and soft eyes, as she met Daryl's piercing blue ones.

"Ok." She sighed again. "Well, I am also a survivor in another sense." She began, taking his hands in hers. "I was diagnosed with leukaemia when I was 13." She paused to make sure he knew what that meant. He gave a slight nod and she continued. "Chemotherapy and radiation therapy destroyed my fertility. I had some eggs cryogenically frozen before the treatment, but not that that could help me anymore." She finished with a slight drop of her eyes to his bare chest and chewed at her bottom lip.

Daryl gave her hand a slight squeeze. He didn't really know what to say so he hoped that gesture alone was enough. The silence was getting heavier around them as he thought about her reply and her open honesty about her personal history. He let go of one of her hands and put his fingers to the back of her neck, playing with the soft strands of hair. Daryl looked to her face and considered if that was also why she liked her hair so long. It's can't have been a good feeling coming into her teen years, being sick and loosing all her hair.

Daryl's lips were pulled in to a straight line as he followed her gaze to his chest. She was idly looking at the largest of the scars that littered his front. He turned his head away, his instinct to get away from her before she asked the question _he_ always got asked. But he didn't pull away from her, and she didn't ask. He looked back to her face and her eyes flicked up to his.

Rebecca hadn't realised she was looking at his scars, she was sort of just staring straight ahead. She realised what had happened when she met Daryl's slightly pained expression. She pulled her mouth in tight and shook her head as a kind of silent apology. Daryl dropped his hand from her neck and picked up her small hands in his own. He lifted her fingers to his chest and placed them on the scar at his collar bone.

Rebecca traced her fingers along it softly, making Daryl's skin erupt slightly into goose bumps. She looked up into his eyes again and grimaced.

"My dad was a mean son-of-a-bitch." Daryl spoke softly, because his words were hard and he didn't want to crack. "Got drunk and use to beat on me and my brother. When Merle left, it was all on me." He stopped there. That was plenty.

Rebecca drew her fingers down his chest and sighed. Just like he didn't know what to say to her story, she didn't know what to say to his. Her fingers ran through the sparse hair he had on his chest and down his stomach, their eyes locked together. Dropping her hand to the fly of his jeans, Rebecca bit on her bottom lip. Daryl took in a deep breath and brought his hands up to her jaw, cupping her face. He encouraged her to lean forward as he planted a soft kiss on her mouth, his head slightly cocked to the side.

Confident in her actions now from his pecking mouth, Rebecca undid the button on Daryl's jeans. She made quick work of opening his pants, breathing in through their deepening kisses. Peeling them open just enough, she slid her hand inside and touched him in a way that made him suck in a sharp breath, eyes snapping shut. Moving her hand down his growing length, Daryl began to slightly lean back away from her, giving her more room to keep touching him. Rebecca leaned forward to him, putting her lips to his neck. The reversal of their roles making her smile into his pulse.

Her fingers slid softly to the tip of his hardness, wrapping around him and giving a soft squeeze. Daryl's was growling deep, almost silently, in his chest. His breath quickening as Rebecca continued her attention to his cock in her hand, and her soft lips to his pulsing nerves in his neck. He was going to cum in his pants if he didn't stop her now.

Daryl put his hand to her wrist, and removed the hand from his pants. He snapped his eyes open and pulled away from her open, wet lips. He moved like he was about to throw her backwards, planning on pushing her to her back and fucking her into the mattress. But she quickly got her hand free from him, getting up on her knees. She grabbed at the hem of her shirt and pulled it up from her body. Before the shirt had even left her head, Daryl's mouth and hands were on her breasts. Softly pinching and kissing and squeezing her supple flesh. She took in ragged breaths and cast her shirt to the ground beside the bed. Her hands went to the back of his neck, fingers pulling slightly on his dark hair. He dropped his left hand to her hip, trying to pull her closer to him, nipping her softly on her nipple.

Rebecca's hands left Daryl's hair and slid down between them. Her fingers hooked into the waistband of his jeans and gave a hard tug. Daryl's mouth left her chest as he looked down to her hands. Realising what she was trying to do, he helped her by putting his hands behind him on the bed and lifting himself from the mattress. With his hips off the bed, Rebecca easily slid the denim from his body, his cock springing forward from the fly. She slid off the bed, dragging his jeans down his legs. Standing beside the bed now, she let the pants hit the floor and put her hands to her underwear. The black, bikini-cut cotton dropped to the old carpet, as Daryl slid to the edge of the bed, feet over the side to the ground. He put his hand out and took hold of hers, interlacing his fingers with hers, pulling her slightly towards him.

Rebecca took back her hand and put both on his shoulders, steadying herself as she climbed in to his lap. Straddling his thighs, she pulled her body against his with her hands sliding over his scarred back. Daryl's arms wrapped around her body, his muscles pulling her hard against him as he breathed in her scent from her neck. His lips wet as he began his familiar kissing and nipping at the flesh below her jaw. His arms loosened, letting his hands slide down her back. His rough hands slid down low beneath her, cupping her soft rear. Her skin feeling like satin to his calloused touch. He gave a soft squeeze as she moved in his lap, inching herself closer to his hard length. The tip of his cock brushed against her hot wet core, making him seek out her mouth with his own, as his blood boiled in his crotch.

Rebecca's mouth crushed on to Daryl's as she dropped a hand between them to the base of his dick, helping to aim it for her center. His tongue pushed into her mouth, past her swollen lips, as his cock pushed into her wet opening. He pushed his hips up, driving himself unexpectedly into her, causing her to gasp around his mouth. Her hand left his burrowing length and met her other at the back of his neck and shoulders to steady herself. Daryl rocked and bucked his hips in short, studded thrusts. His invading hardness sinking deeper and deeper inside her. She moaned into his mouth and met his rhythm, grinding into him with each new thrust.

Their movements turned into deep circular plunges, riding up high and dropping down low. Daryl's right hand slid from it's place under her ass, running down the length of her left thigh. It stopped just above her knee and hooked under the joint, holding her firm against him. Their intense rocking making Rebecca break from Daryl's mouth with a whimpering moan.

Abandoning their kissing, Rebecca breathed lustily into Daryl's face as he kneaded her flesh and drove deep inside her. Her hands gripped at his back and shoulders, holding on for dear life as she approached her crashing point. The heat had settled low in her womb as Daryl drove her closer to the edge.

Daryl squeezed his eyes tightly shut and bargained with himself to hold in there a little longer. Rebecca's hot, tight walls had began gripping and twitching against his cock, making his balls tighten preparing for his searing release. He breathed deep hard breathes, mixing with the sweet puffs from Rebecca's mouth. She had began making small noises, moans in the back of her throat. The sound making something tighten in Daryl's stomach. Suddenly, her eyes opened and looked into his. She let out a deep lusty noise from her wet mouth and began bucking uncontrollably in his lap. Her toe-curling, shuddering orgasm brought Daryl over the edge with her.

"God… shit.." He growled out as he gripped onto her body hard and thrust his last few quaking stabs hard in to her. Her short fingernails dug slightly into the skin of his shoulder blades as she held herself tightly against him, riding the waves of her pulsing orgasm. Daryl breathed heavily and his heart thumped loud enough to be heard around the room. His hands softened their bruising grip on her skin, as his cock relaxed inside her.

Rebecca could feel his burning hot cum inside her as she eased into his body. She dragged her fingers in soft, lazy circles on his back, as he kissed her softly below her ear. Neither wanting to move from the embrace.

…...

Rebecca sat on the lodge roof, wrapped in the blanket Maggie had passed her when she took over watch. She curled up tight, embracing herself, desperate to hold onto her body heat for as long as possible. She breathed small puffs of frost from her chilling lips and nose, her eyes skimming through the surrounding trees.

Daryl walked into her line of sight as he followed the fence line. He held his crossbow with two hands in front of him, looking around, ready to jump in to action. He was so on edge, they all were. Rebecca's approach to the walking corpses, when she had been alone, had been an invisible one. She was one person, easily hid from sight in large buildings or solitary farm houses. The walkers didn't even know she was around unless they caught the scent of her in the air. With a group that was next to impossible. You couldn't stop fearing the unpredictable death for even a second.

Vigilance and respect for the deadly threat of the new everyday life. That is what it took to survive. And Daryl had what it took. He never strayed from his watchfulness. His alert observation of the small world around them that was their momentary home. Trust. He had earned it in truckloads. This group would trust him with everything they had, trust him with their very lives.

And she trusted him with her heart.

She couldn't help it. He was a complex man with polar emotions and moods. He swung easily between flying off the handle and gentle, cowering gestures. A torrent of pain and warmth and honesty and strength. Daryl was so much and she felt whole when she was with him. She would forget she was a broken shell of herself and the horrible world would disappear when his arms were around her, and his breath soft on the back of her neck.

Fuck, they had known each other for a total of maybe three weeks (clearly not including the months between their first and second encounters), but she could not imagine existing one more day if he wasn't there to come home to.

He had asked her the question earlier, in his straight-shooting way. The question of her fertility always came around when a relationship started to get serious. She just hadn't realised that Daryl had felt that way about her. She had warmed his bed and soothed his thoughts, but beyond that she didn't really know what Daryl had felt for her. _The question_ meant that he had thought about her long term, thought about a future together. That's what it had always meant in the past when she had been asked it. Usually it was her cue to get out of the relationship if she didn't see it going any where. But she didn't want to get out of this surprise relationship. Rebecca wanted to stay with Daryl, wanted a future with him, and for some fucking unthinkable way, to be able to give him children. That's what people do, right? Do people still do that? Plan to grow old together. Or do they just pledge to put a bullet into the others head if they get bit?

Rebecca needed a cigarette. Her focus was drawn too inwards and she wasn't performing her duty and keeping a protective eye over the camp. She stood up, keeping the blanket around her shoulders, resolving to concentrate on her responsibility. She saw Daryl turn to face her, clearly thinking she had seen something. She gave him a small wave to say that everything was fine. He held his gaze for a moment and then turned, continuing on his guard.

Daryl kept his bow tight to his chest, his hands firm at the trigger and stock. His quiet steps on the soft ground allowing him to keep his keen hearing to the forest around them. His heart had tightened in his chest when he saw her suddenly get to her feet. Rebecca's actions causing him to fear the worst. Her small wave easing his state of alert, he watched her for a few seconds before allowing himself to think everything was ok.

He feared her. He was scared of what she was doing to him. What had happened between them without him knowing it. He didn't know when or what had happened, but suddenly she meant more to him than anyone or anything else in the world. He was scared to love something because in inevitably always left him.

Love? What the fuck? Is that what he was feeling? This deep hot feeling in his stomach when he thought about her. He cared about her, good lord he cared about her, but when had that changed into this next level? Watching her this morning, running around with that little girl, had triggered some deep unknown desire he had to see her with a child of her own. His child, strangely enough.

He had never thought of it before, (he lied to himself). I mean, what kind of father could he be? He hadn't exactly had the best example of a dad for himself. No, he had the worst kind of dad. The abusive cunt.

Daryl rubbed at his eyes hard, trying to push the darker thoughts out from his head. He glanced back up at the roof, to Rebecca. She was standing facing away from him, looking past the stable gates to the hunting grounds. Her body pulled in tight against the cold night air. Daryl wanted to go up there and pull her into himself, giving her heat and feeling her against him. His furrowed brow smoothed as his thoughts turned to more pleasant things.

Daryl puffed a frosted sigh and continued his watch.


	13. Chapter 13

A few days passed uneventfully. Daryl and Rebecca both going through the day separately, and both waiting for the night when they would be curled up in bed against one another. Daryl moved around the fence line checking and rechecking the wire. Rebecca would help clean where she could and kept any weapons they had in top working order. She had become quiet the expert at sharpening knives with her whet stone and each gleamed in the sparse sunlight. Proud of her handiwork, she set to sharpening a large wood axe she found in the stable.

Daryl smiled as he watched Rebecca sit down on a log and place the axe across her knees. He leaned back on a fence pole and chewed mindlessly on the side of his thumbnail. Rick had asked if Daryl could start going back out to hunt again. It was time to bring in more protein, so Daryl had planned on asking Rebecca to come with him out into the reserve. It was time to man the fuck up and talk to her so she knew what he felt. While he didn't know what he was going to say, he knew it had to be said. There wasn't enough time in this world anymore to pussy around. And out in the woods was where he was his most zen.

And it was away from all the nosy gossips around here, he thought to himself as he watched Lori walk along the front of the cabins, her eyes pryingly on Rebecca.

…...

Rebecca had finished her precise work on the axe head. No longer rusted and dull, Rebecca picked up and shaved a small stick with it's razor-sharp edge. With hardly any pressure, it stripped the skin from the twig like she was peeling a banana. 'Great.' she thought to herself 'Now I want a banana.' Her craving for fresh tropical fruits swelled every once in a while, making herself miss her old life. But now she didn't miss it all as much as she use to. Daryl had made her existence entirely more liveable and worth while.

She put the axe down, leaning it against the small pile of logs around her. Her eyes lifted and searched out the man on her mind. She caught him. He was leaning casually against the wire fence, watching her. A sudden blush ran over her and she buried her face in her hands. She peeked through her fingers and saw him walking towards her. 'How long had he been watching her?' She dropped her hands as she got to her feet and dusted herself off. Still warm from her embarrassment, Rebecca walked slowly to meet Daryl, her eyes on the ground in front of her.

"Hey Bashful," He smirked. "Wanna hunt?"

She let out a soft snigger and looked up into his eyes. "Yeah, just let me grab my gear."

"Well git on then." He swatted at her with his crossbow, tapping her on the butt with it as she turned. She playfully scowled at him over her shoulder and stepped up in to a jog towards the main cabin.

Her bow and quiver of arrows was where she left it on the coffee table in the lounge. She had cleaned and repaired all her arrows the previous day and was more than ready to get them out for a play. Bringing in food made her feel so important to this group, made her feel really worthy of the kindness that they all showed her. She scooped them up and walked into the kitchen to find a few friendly smiles around the table. Hershel, Glenn and Maggie, Carol and Kitty, and Lori turned or looked up at her as Rebecca popped into the room.

"Daryl and I are going to hunt in the reserve. We will be back in a few hours." She informed them.

"No worries." Glenn replied, giving her a small wink. "Have fun."

Rebecca rolled her eyes at him as she left the room. Don't know what he thought was gonna happen out there, but after her last encounter with the 'water-walker', Rebecca barely even liked to pee out there.

She walked out the front door towards Daryl, who was over by the cars talking with Rick. After telling Rick they were heading out, he turned to see Rebecca striding over towards him with long purposeful steps and a smile on her beautiful lips. She clearly liked getting out into the woods herself. 'It was nice to have common interests' he thought idly to himself. 'Get a grip of yerself Darylina' Merle's voice floated into his head as he rolled his eyes.

Rebecca caught up to him as he started to walk to the gate of the reserve. She flashed Rick a small wave as she met Daryl in his stride. The attitude in his walk made her smile to herself as she slung her quiver over her shoulder.

"Ya ready to go now, Robin Hood?" He said with a sly voice.

"Sure am, Maid Marion." Rebecca retorted. Daryl scoffed and shook his head as he opened the gate for her.

…...

The pair walked silently down the small bushy trails, Rebecca behind Daryl with an arrow resting in the shelf and string of her bow. Daryl stalking slowly with his crossbow at his chest. So far they had three squirrels, and Rebecca's prize for shooting blindly into a bush, a midsized, wild turkey.

They walked to the creek and scouted for any other possible dinner options. The hunting reserve must have been picked pretty dry by the previous residents of the lodge. No deer anymore, nothing bigger than hare or possum. But still it was mostly safe and right by their 'home'.

"I'll have ta take ye out real hunting sum time, bag us a deer." Daryl said as he put his bow down on the ground beside him, reaching for his canteen of water and offering it to her first.

Rebecca politely refuse as she pulled out her own water supply. The bottle was starting to weigh her down along with the weight of the turkey and it was a relief to lessen some of the load. She drank deeply from her bottle and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand.

"I've taken down a deer before." She replied with a grin. Daryl cocked an eyebrow at her as she continued. "My second week alone. I was starving, and I was hold up in an orchard that was out of season. Nothing but flowers." She grumbled. "I was far enough back from the road and more or less felt safe, so I set up a few targets and tried to get my aim back in. Months without a bow in my arms and malnutrition had robbed me of my muscles and I was a fucking poor shot. Anyway, day two, I'm behind a fence, trying to steady my arms on the rail so I can hit a target and a massive stag just wanders in to the space in front of me, like, maybe 15 yards in front of me." She gestured with her hands excitedly. Daryl shakes his head at the ground, smiling at her enthusiasm. "Oh my god, I couldn't believe it." She closed her eyes, remembering that amazing moment. She shook her head and returned to the story. "So, I am wetting myself and drooling with excitement and telling myself 'You better not fuck this up!'. I drew back silently and held it in my straining hands until I had the deer right in my sight. Pfftt." She gestured letting the arrow go. "Straight in the neck. It took a few steps and fell to the ground. I swear to god I almost ripped it open with my teeth." She laugh and Daryl chuckled at her story. "Anyway, it got my strength up from off the ground and made me think that maybe I could survive out here alone. I ate for about three days before the meat started to turn, didn't want to risk it after that." She smiled to herself and Daryl watched her beautiful expression..

Daryl grabbed the bottom of Rebecca's jacket and pulled her towards him. He placed a kiss on her lips. Just a short sweet one.

"Aghh…" She smirked. "You might not want to kiss me anymore if I tell you what I ate next."

"Go on." Daryl chuckled. He just wanted to hear her talk and see her smile more.

"Well. The deer had given me false hope. It was almost another three weeks later before I caught anything else. A couple of rats I found in a barn." She scrunched up her face and shivered at the thought.

"Ya did what ya had ta." He kissed her again to reassure her that he still wanted to.

She took another swig of water before putting the lighter bottle back in her pack.

"Shall we head back?" She asked, slinging her bag back over her shoulder. Daryl stepped back in towards her and picked up her hand. His expression had changed to one of deep inner confusion and tumult. Rebecca picked up his eyes with her own and gave his hand a squeeze. She smiled quizzically at him, her warm eyes making the words he wanted to say surface to the tip of his tongue.

"Yer beautiful." He stumbled out. She blushed at his words, but didn't look away. "You… I mean… I don't…" He was getting frustrated as he tripped over his own words.

**"**Hey," She stepped forward and put her arms around his waist. The contact of her body made his nerves settle. He put his hands to her neck, cupping the back of her head. "Say it or don't say it. I know how you feel." She smiled at him. "I feel it too."

He wanted to say it all, but it wasn't exactly something he was familiar with. Or comfortable with in anyway. But he wanted to. Daryl took a heavy breath and closed his eyes, putting his lips to her forehead.

"Yer important to me." He said, barely above a whisper. "Yer more than I ever wanted or deserve."

She tilted her head back and pressed her lips to his, softly and wet. Her heart both pounded with excitement and sunk with sadness at his words. He really didn't know how special he was. She didn't say anything because she wanted to make his words feel special, not just dismiss them. She just appreciated him and what he said and thanked him silently for saying it with a kiss.

Daryl pulled away a little and looked her in the eyes. He breathed in her face and she reached up and wiped at the tingle that was in the corner of her eye. He bent in and kissed her once more, before dropping his hands and turning away slightly to pick up his crossbow.

She could tell he was a little embarrassed by his emotional display, but she didn't say anything. She wouldn't say anything in fear that it might never happen again if she did. Rebecca just smiled to herself discretely and picked up her own bow, before following him back down the track towards the cabins.

…...

After dinner, the group sat around the table to discuss their next move. Rick stood at the end with the map spread out in front of him.

"Ok. Our next step is to return to that last town. We only checked the store and the doctors office last time. There was also a diner and a hardware store I wanted to look into." He looked up from the map to the faces around him. It sounded like he was checking with them to ask if they agreed, but he wasn't really giving them a choice. It was just his approach to the decisions he made for the group. Everyone trusted him and his choices. But it was not really up for discussion anyway.

"Daryl, Rebecca, Glenn and myself." He said with a nod to each. "We already know the town, so we will be the most efficient. T and Hershel, and Carl," He added, watching the boy getting edgy at the table. "You'll be keeping back here, on watch."

Rebecca looked at Daryl with a 'hear we go again' expression.

_*** Hey guys , **_

_**I just want to say a little thank you to my latest reviewers, rbnm3230, sweetkiwi604 and especially to Carrie for absolutely making my day with this exceptional review-**_

_**Carrie 10/4/13 . chapter 12**_

_**Thanks for acknowledging my previous comment. This is a great series. You have a talent for capturing different character's narratives. I loved this latest chapter where we hear more of Daryl's internal monologue. You've captured his personality perfectly. I also think you portray the other characters as they are on the show and this makes the story a lot more grounded and enjoyable to read. I like how it doesn't deviate from the canon of the show, and how all of this takes place during the winter months when we didn't see the characters on screen. It's so well written that I could almost believe they did know Rebecca between season 2 & 3. Keep up the great work! **_

_**As a reward, I would like to use the name Carrie for the OC of the next TWD story I have waiting in the wings (Carrie, let me know if you would prefer not).**_

**_Also, I have finished the final chapters of this story for you guys. Expect daily updates!_**

**_Thanks guys. Peace._**


	14. Chapter 14

The sun was washed out from the overcast sky. The clouds settled low and cold this morning, making the air bite at any exposed skin. Rebecca pulled her jacket tighter around her as her head swam. She had woken with a blocked nose and throbbing head ache. A cold. Her midnight watch on the cold roof no doubt to blame. She rubbed at the tight pain in her sinuses and walked from her cabin, on heavy legs, to the main lodge.

Daryl had gotten up early to take over watch from Glenn. He had kissed her softly on the side of the head and dressed, leaving the cabin silently in the dark early hours. She saw him now, standing out the front of the lodge, watching her approach him.

Rebecca relaxed her arms and closed her eyes as she crashed into him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Wusa' matter?" He asked concerned, putting his hand to the back of her head.

"I don't think I can go today." She mumbled into his jacket. "I have a cold."

"Go on inside. I'll tell Rick." He pushed her gently towards the door and opened it for her.

She walked in and dropped on the couch, as Daryl stepped into the kitchen for a moment before turning and going outside to speak with Rick.

A minute later, Carol came out of the kitchen with a mug in her hand.

"Daryl told me to bring you a cup of tea." Carol said with a tiny smile tight on her lips.

Rebecca laughed quietly to herself and sat up. "Thanks Carol" She smiled.

"Are you ok?" The mousy woman asked

"Yeah, it's just a cold." Rebecca replied over the mug of steamy water. She did feel soothed from the tea and comforted by the caring gesture from Daryl and Carol.

"Well, I don't think you should go with them today." Carol said considerately.

"No, I'm not. Daryl is talking with Rick about it now." Rebecca agreed.

After a pause Carol returned with "He cares about you. It's nice to see him happy. He deserves that."

Rebecca thought of the story Carol had told her early on about Daryl's efforts to find her daughter Sofia.

"Try telling him that." Rebecca whispered into her mug.

"I have." Carol replied softly. "Maybe you can make him see it."

"I'm trying too." She smiled inwardly.

…...

After a while Daryl returned. Rebecca was on her feet taking her mug back to the kitchen, determined to seek out some paracetamol for her head.

"Yer stayin'. Rick says we'll take Maggie instead." Daryl said flatly, as he dropped his crossbow on to the smaller couch.

"Oh, Glenn will be happy." She replied with a chuckle.

Daryl smiled a half smile at her words. After a quick check over his shoulder to make sure they were alone, he stepped forward to her and put his arms around her waist, pulling her against him. She smiled and he felt that familiar warmth spread through him that only Rebecca could make him feel. He kissed her quickly on the lips before she turned her face away.

"Don't kiss me. You'll get sick too." She scolded, but not really meaning it.

"Don't care. It'll be worth it." He said defiantly, before kissing her again.

She melted into his kiss and let her cold nose push into his warm cheek. His hands at her waist pulled her harder against him and she smiled into his mouth. Her own hands pinned between them, holding onto the mug. She had to break away from their kiss as she couldn't breath through her nose. His kisses literally made her dizzy. He moved his hands up to cup her face and gave her one last peck on the mouth. He stepped back and took the mug from her hands, placing it on the small coffee table. He grabbed her by the jacket and dragged her back to the couch. Rebecca allowed him to throw her onto the cushions playfully, as he followed her down, kneeling between her thighs and planting one more short but passionate kiss on her mouth.

"Stay." He said to her, pointing at her chest, as he got back up to his feet.

She coughed out a little laugh as he picked up her mug and took it to the kitchen.

He returned and picked up his crossbow from the opposite couch, giving Rebecca a quick smile. "You best still be there when I get back." He growled at her.

"Where else am I gonna go?" She retorted. "Hey, wait." She called as Daryl had turned to the door. "Be safe. Ok?" Rebecca's eyes watered a little. "You mean everything to me too."

His mouth pulled into a firm line as he looked her in the eyes. He gave her a small nod. A gesture promising he would come back to her in one piece, before he turned and exited the building.

…...

They had been gone for about an hour and fifteen minutes. Ok, exactly an hour and fifteen minutes. Rebecca had dangerously been watching the clock. Two hours, that was all they would need, max. She couldn't help but shake from the bad feeling in her stomach. It was probably just because he was out there, without her. Too much distance between them, when she belonged by his side. Her head was starting to clear but her chest was starting to ache. Her stomach in knots and her heart swelling with tension.

She grabbed the blanket Carol had put over her and pulled it around her shoulders as she sat up. With a sniff, Rebecca got to her feet and walked to the window. She looked towards the gate, hoping his bike would turn the corner at her request. But she knew she would hear it before she saw it. Standing up she was beginning to feel a little better. Deciding to break Daryl's instructions she left the couch, and went to the kitchen to find someone to talk to.

She walked in and the kitchen was warm and humid. The best kind of environment for a head cold. Carol was standing beside the wood stove, boiling a large pot of water so they would have more safe drinking water when it cooled. Hershel was at the back window, keeping an eye on the tree line. Lori, Kitty and Beth were sitting at the table. Beth braiding Kitty's hair, while Lori read to her. Rebecca had seen Carl and T-dog go outside earlier to take watch. Lori only agreeing if Carl took the roof, at least then she knew where he would be.

Rebecca breathed in the steam as it softened her sinuses, but her body was exhausted.

Hershel leaned forward and looked at something outside the window. Suddenly there was a banging on the roof, Carl stomping his foot to get people's attention. Hershel grabbed his rifle and ran to the door. Rebecca's hand dropped automatically to her knife. Her heart started racing as she followed the older man out of the lodge.

A walker was leaning against the chest high wire fence, rasping and moaning, leaning forward against the tight line. T-dog came running from the front of the building. He slowed and walked towards the walker, long metal stake in hand. He gave them a nod, saying he will take care of it. He stabbed the walker in the brain with the steel and pushed it away from the fence. It fell backwards and T-dog looked around to see if there were any more. Rebecca returned to the kitchen door.

"It's ok. T-dog got it." She calmed the tense women in the room. "Stay here while we just check around for any more." With that she pulled the door closed behind her. No point letting all the warmth out.

"Hershel, we can't afford for you to get sick too." Rebecca said concerned. "Go inside, and maybe see if you can get Lori to calm down. Don't want her going in to labour or something."

"Are you sure?" The man replied, asking if she was certain she wasn't going to pass out or anything.

"I'm fine." She smiled. "I think that little surge of adrenalin was what I needed."

"Well don't over do it. And come back inside as soon as possible." He said with a firm nod.

"Yes doctor." She smirked, turning to go around to the side of the building where T-dog was scanning the tree line. Her body was flat and she didn't intend on staying out any longer than necessary.

She jogged over to T-dog's side and turned to look up at Carl. She put her hands up in a gesture that asked if he could see anything. Carl replied by shaking his head. Rebecca turned to T-dog. "Well, I'll start up near the cars and you can start down near the reserve gate and we'll work our way back to the middle."

"You gonna be ok?" T-dog asked, giving her a concerned once over.

"I'm ok." She replied again, still lying. "My nose is so blocked I wouldn't be able to smell a walker even if I stepped in it, but I'm feeling ok."

"Got a weapon." He asked looking at her hands.

"I got my knife." She put her hand to the blade. "But if I see anything I'll be sure to scream." She smirked at him. He shook his head with a smile and turned towards the hunting reserve. "Hey, T. Make sure the gate is locked."

He waved over his shoulder and she turned towards the front gate and the cars. As she passed the small wood pile, the sunlight reflected off something shiny to her left. She looked back and saw the freshly sharpened axe still resting where she left it. Rebecca walked over to it and picked it up, smiling to herself at her handiwork. She felt the weight of it and pictured it just sliding into the head of a walker as she swung at it.

Axe on her shoulder, she walked around the cars.

"There's more!" Carl shouted from his spot on the roof. "Lots more!"

Rebecca turned back to the fence line where the first walker had been. Three more were suddenly leaning and pushing against the wire. Then another two emerged. Then more.

T-dog ran forwards, swinging his rifle from off his back. He shot repeatedly. Corpse after corpse slumping over the wire. But more just emerged from the trees. Two taking the place of each walker that fell.

Carl stood at the edge of the roof and shot at the crowd, hitting and missing. He took out some, but the mob wasn't thinning.

Hershel had come back out from the lodge, shot gun in hand. He stopped near T-dog and shot into the herd.

Rebecca stood breathlessly watching the scene unfold in front of her. There was too many, they had no chance. The fence wire strained under the weight of the massive horde. 30 something ghouls pushing forward on the single line. A post groaned and suddenly the top wire snapped.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. The throng of dead fell forward and got the their feet, moving towards Hershel and T-dog. They were going to run out of bullets any second.

Rebecca didn't think, she just acted. She picked up the axe that had fallen, at some point, to the ground. She held it below the head in her right hand and drew the sharp edge across her left palm. The red warmth poured from the slice. It pooled in her hand as she slid her right hand down to the handle of the axe.

Rebecca ran forward to the mob of hungry dead, shouting. Some turned and seemed to sniff at the air. Others, who had already been eyeing at her hungrily, lunged forward.

She flicked her cupped hand at the mass of walkers, splattering them with her blood. She drew their collective attention and turned on her heals.

"CUM'ON FUCKERS!" She screamed, her voice was a hoarse, shrill call.

The freshest of the decomposing corpses moved quickly to the front of the pack.

Rebecca made it to the front gate and swung it wide open. Her bloodied hand smeared on the timber as she pushed it back. She glanced back briefly. She had successfully captured the attention of perhaps 20 of the 30+ walkers that had overrun the grounds. Rebecca held firmly to the axe and sprinted to the open road.


	15. Chapter 15

_***Thanks again Sweetkiwi, Carriesque, and LoyalAsAViking. This is for you.**_

Daryl's stomach turned to ice as he spotted the smeared bloody hand print on the open gate. He turned into the grounds of the hunting lodge. Quickly knocking down the kick stand of his bike, he reached for his crossbow, mounted to the forks. He brought it up to his eye line as he straddled the bike, sending a bolt into the eye of a nearby walker that was climbing through the ruined wire fence.

T-dog beat in the skull of the last standing walker with a long steel rod and Hershel was telling the kid Carl to stay on the roof. Probably 20 bodies lay strewn about the open grounds. Daryl heard Rick and Glenn pull in behind him through the gates. Rick jumping from the passenger side door before it even came to a stop.

Daryl climbed off his bike and ran to the lodge. He ripped open the door and shot a quick glance to the couch. Even though he knew she wouldn't still be there, he had to look. Running into the kitchen, his eyes wildly shot around the room. He saw Carol, holding onto Kitty by the table. Lori and Beth standing at the window, trying to see what was happening and looking to see if Carl was safe.

But he didn't see her.

Carol quickly caught on to what he was doing. "She's not here. She's out there." The woman spoke through a soft sob.

Daryl gave her a nod and turned, running out the back door. His chest started to tighten as panic began to creep inside him. His throat constricted when he came around the corner and saw T-dog and the old man, talking with Rick and Glenn. Rick's eyes shot up over T-dogs shoulder and caught Daryl's. He turned and looked at the gate, the one with the bloody handprint.

Somehow he had known that was hers.

Daryl ran back to Merle's motorbike, slinging his crossbow over his shoulder as he moved. He swung a leg over, started the bike and kicked up the stand in one second flat. Sending a rooster tail of loose dirt in an arc behind him as he spun the bike and tore out the gate. He would hear the whole story from her when he got her back.

At the road, he slowed to look down to the left. There was a body on the road, some 50 yards away. Almost tipping the bike to far, he leaned to the left and headed for the remains.

He didn't stop only slowed to look at the stiff. A male walker, freshie too, with it's head lying about 6ft away from it's shoulders. Rebecca had taken it clean off.

Daryl looked down the road further, seeing another corpse. Hopefully she had left him this trail of bread crumbs the whole way behind her. And more importantly, she was still alive at the end of it.

He sped up again, lurching forward. He had no idea how far ahead of him she was. Manoeuvring the bike down the road, swerving between the bodies, he followed her. A sick, tight feeling in his stomach and an itch flitted into his eyes. He pawed at his face, desperate to see the road he was flying down at break-neck speed.

…...

Twelve bodies so far, with another two in sight down the road. Each missing their head or having their skull split wide open. Wherever she was going, she was going fighting.

'She was ok. She's stronger now. She can defend herself, run for miles. Look how many of these assholes she had taken out already'. Daryl thought all of these things as he passed dead walker 15 and 16. All the while, a creeping sickening voice whispered doubt in to his head. 'How many more could she take?'

He slowed slightly as he approached a T-intersection. Looking down the road as he approached, searching for the next body to tell him left or right. Seeing none down either way he put a hand to his head and raked it through his hair. He glanced up at the sign at the end of the road. A smear of blood on the right side of the sign. Anxiously, Daryl prayed that this was her sign to go right, that she was marking out her path knowing that he would find her.

He turned the bike to the right and sped off down the curved road. As he came around a bend, he found another headless body, confirming he was back on her trail.

Another full, agonising minute down the road and he saw, ahead of him, two more bodies on the ground together and a third and forth slightly off the side of the road, against a tree. He slowed right down to take a better look at this collection.

She had probably made one of her life-or-death stands here. His heart felt like it was stuffed in the back of his throat as he approached the bodies. Daryl stopped his bike all together just past the two corpses on the road. He stood, legs either side of the motorcycle, and looked into the trees beside the road. Two more decaying walkers lay slumped, face down, against a large tree.

Daryl leaned forward and squinted looking further around the trees. As he leaned, he caught sight of a boot sticking out past another tree. Her boot.

He jumped of the bike, abandoning it to the ground, as he leapt over the ditch and ran to the trees. As he approached her, passing the two walkers on his left, more of her came into view from behind a large tree. Her eyes were closed and she was slumped against the rough bark, her body and pale face covered in gore and splashes of putrefied blood. Her legs splayed in front of her, the axe covered in a mix of blood from her and them. Rebecca's bloody mess of a hand lay limply by her side, the other resting on the axe handle. Her head tilted softly to the side and her breath was coming in small, uneven puffs.

Daryl dropped beside her and cupped her face in his hands. "Wake up." He growled. "Open your eyes!" He shouted at her, as he shook her slightly.

Rebecca's eyes flickered and opened slowly. "Hey." Her voice little more than a breathy whisper. "You're here."

"Yeah, I'm here." He replied softer, relieved, looking over her exhausted body. "Com'on. Lets get ya back." He put his arm under hers to help her to her feet.

"No. Wait…ughh…" Rebecca stuttered, seething through her teeth. "I can't… ah… Daryl wait!" She clutched desperately to her waist, the other side to Daryl.

Daryl stood up and walked around her legs to her opposite side. A chill swept through him that had nothing to do with the frozen air around them. Her right hip and thigh was covered in wet, shiny, dark blood. Her blood. He crouched down and put his hands apprehensively to the bottom of her jacket.

"Daryl, wait… don't look." She begged him in a rasping whisper. Tears spilled down heavy over her pale cheeks. Daryl lifted her jacket carefully and peered underneath.

Rebecca's abdomen was torn open, deep and gushing, the severe wound just above her hip. The massive tear was open and terrible. Her white skin a sickening contrast to the crimson blood that flowed openly from her wound to the leaf-littered earth beside her.

She wasn't going to survive.

Daryl looked back to her pale face and the tears that cascaded down her cheeks. Her eyes were closed tight and her head was tilted back against the tree.

"I'll go git somebody. You'll be fine. Jus' wait." He said breathlessly getting to his feet, almost shouting his words so she would be able to hear them over the sound of his pounding heart.

"Daryl. No." She choked out. Her watery eyes opened and found his. "You'll be gone ten minutes… but I'll be dead in two."

"Don't fucking say that." His voice cracked as he dropped to his knees in front of her. His face scrunched up in pain as he tried to keep her eye contact. Daryl moved in as close as he could without touching her. One hand bracing him against the tree beside her head, the other wiping her tears softly away from her face. "Don't die." His throat constricted around his words.

Rebecca just nodded her head in tiny, almost unseen movements. "If you ever see Ben... talk to him." Daryl shook his head softly, not taking his eyes from hers. She breathed deeply, finding her last bit of strength, the tiniest spark left of her existence. "I love you Daryl. You are loved. Do you understand me?"

Daryl's face buckled and he dropped his forehead to hers. His own tears dropping heavily on to her soft face.

"You are worthy… of everything" Her voice barely more than a breath. "… and more." She raised her hand from the axe across her lap and tried to put it to his face. She couldn't lift it.

Daryl had seen her move and quickly reached down to pick up her hand. He turned towards it, as he lifted it for her, to his face. He placed a kiss on her wrist and then held it against his cheek, turning his head once again to her face. He kissed her on the mouth, softly.

"I've never loved anyone my whole life, the way I love you." His words hurting his throat as he pushed them past the strangled feeling in his neck. "Don't go, please."

Rebecca kissed him once more. She held her lips to his for as long as she could.

Daryl felt a sudden stillness take hold of Rebecca. Her hand, her lips, her breathing. It all stoped.

He pushed his forehead back to hers, lifting his lips slowly from her mouth. She was gone.

Daryl's face cracked in anger and dropped into grief several times, bringing him to the verge of screaming in pain and then stopping to look at her in disbelief. Her beautiful lips and dark eyes that he wouldn't see again. His chest burning inside. His rage boiling and his sadness paralysing, as her life had extinguished before him. He had lost her.

Still holding onto her hand, he dropped his face to her shoulder. His pain shredded his insides as his tears wet her grey hood. He breathed in her scent and run his fingers through her hair, behind her ear.

The sickening thought crept into his mind, bringing a foul taste to the back of his throat.

Daryl swallowed hard, and placed her hand softly down in her lap. He kissed her again on the forehead. Her eyes were closed and her face relaxed. Daryl, braced against the tree, put his free hand to his knife at his belt. He pulled it from it's sheath and looked at it's gleaming surface, contemplating what he was about to do.

Daryl lifted the bloodied axe from Rebecca's lap, placing it's heavy weigh on the ground beside her, and straddled her thigh. The beautiful ink he had run his fingers over several times, beneath her dark denim. He pulled her carefully forward into his arms. Her head rest against his shoulder, his clenched fists tight around her back. She was soft in his arms as he steeled himself for what he had to do. He put his hand to the back of her head, feeling her soft hair, and tucked her face in against his neck. Putting the tip of his blade to the base of her skull, he watched her short dark hair dancing across the tip of the steel. He again swallowed the lump that was in his throat and slid the sharp knife into her. His stomach turned as he felt it slide past her bone and sinew. He pulled the crimson knife back out and dropped it to the ground. Daryl put both arms around her, holding her tight against him, and wept.

…...

Daryl hadn't moved from her side. He couldn't leave her and he couldn't take her back on the bike. So he sat by her and waited until Rick and Glenn had found them. He had laid her down peacefully on the ground and used his rag to wipe away the tears and blood and gore from her face. Just like he had done the first time he laid eyes on her face, many months ago at the worksite.

The other two men had followed her same trail of bodies. They found Daryl first and then saw Rebecca on the earth beside him. Glenn broke first, unable to hold it back. He crumpled to his knees and ran his fingers through his hair. Rick held strong but tears fell silently from his stoic face.

After a moment, Rick, collecting himself, walked back to the truck and pulled out a blanket from behind the drivers seat. He walked back over slowly and lay it out on the ground beside Rebecca, as Daryl got to his feet. They didn't speak, just worked.

Rick folded the blanket over her face and Daryl put his hands under her, lifting her easily to his chest. She weighed nothing in his arms but crushed his heart like an anvil. He took her to the passenger side of the truck cab. Glenn ran around and climbed in through the drivers side door. He sat in the middle of the bench seat and helped Daryl get her into the passenger seat. Glenn held her body to him and gave Daryl a reassuring nod. Daryl closed the door and returned to his bike.

Rick lead the way back in the truck, Daryl following solemnly behind.


	16. Chapter 16

Rebecca's grave was dug in the pretty, unspoiled grounds of the hunting reserve. Goodbyes were said, as the gray clouds darkened over head.

Daryl hadn't needed to ask what happened. He had surmised enough. She had drawn the walkers from the cabins to protect the others. Taking them out one-by-one over her mile long run. Just like the day they had found her again, rescuing the little girl. It was impossible to believe that was only little over a month ago.

By the time she had died, Daryl felt like he had known Rebecca his whole life. He couldn't imagine existing without her. Now he would have to see if he could.

Nobody tried to talk to him, knowing that he would talk when he felt like it. He didn't speak as he grabbed the spade from the back of the station wagon or while he dug. He stood in silence during her burial. He went directly to their cabin after, with nothing more than a shake of his head to Carol, who looked as though she were about to speak to him, as he walked past the main lodge.

When inside Daryl stripped off his clothes, glancing at her clothes on the floor beside the unused bed. He washed her blood and dirt from his hands and body. Climbing slowly into the bed they had shared. Daryl held on to the pillow and cried.

…...

"We're moving on." Ricks words were straight forward as ever. "This place is no longer secure and we're lucky if that was only the fringe of that large herd a' walkers."

They all agreed. Daryl agreed by not objecting. He stood at the kitchen window, looking out to the reserve. He bit at his thumb nail and just listened to the conversation the group were having behind him at the table.

Rick went over the plan to travel west, and what their next stop would be.

Daryl only half listened, not caring, knowing he would just do whatever was asked of him.

After breakfast was finished, everyone broke off to their cabins to pack up. Carol stayed in the kitchen to wash up the dishes and to pack away anything they might take with them. Daryl hadn't moved yet from his place at the window. Carol was unsure if it was because he hadn't noticed everyone leave or if it was because he finally wanted to talk. She approached him quietly and put her hand softly to his shoulder. Daryl didn't turn or shrug her off, he just breathed out a heavy breath.

Carol stood beside him, waiting for him to talk when he was ready.

"I'm fine." He muttered.

"No you're not. But that's ok." She replied softly. "Are you ready to move on from here?"

"Yeah." His short reply.

"You don't have to forget her." Carol probed.

"Don't plan on forgetting her." He said gruffly. "Doesn't mean I can sleep in that bed another night."

"Ok. Do you want me to pack up her things?" Carol asked.

"No. I got it." Daryl said as he turned away from her hand and walked out of the kitchen.

…...

Daryl had packed her belongings and tucked the photo of her and her brother into the inside pocket of his vest. The image of her smile had brought him comfort in the past few months, when he needed something good to hold onto. He hoped that one day it would do that again, but at the moment, it only made his heart ache.

He placed her bag and her bow and quiver of arrows into the back of the station wagon.

After he was packed he went back out to her grave, planting some pale purple wildflowers in the soil above her heart. He said no goodbyes because he was taking her with him, inside of him.

The group were all packed and ready to go. Daryl climbed on his motorcycle and started it up. He missed the feel of her hands around his waist. A last look at the gate, where the rain had already washed her blood away, and Daryl lead the convoy out back on to the dirt road.


	17. Author's note

Authors note:

How did you feel guys? I know some people may not be happy that I killed Rebecca off and broke Daryl's heart, but it was important to me to keep away from The Walking Dead's story line. And Rebecca wasn't in season 3, was she?

It was amazing, writing for you all. Very gratifying. Thank you so much for your reviews and comments.

I have one more 'absolute pearler' of a story for you guys. Please check it out.

'Walking Distance''

Daryl D/OC short story. Set after season 3, this story is about a chance meeting in a dangerous time. Rated M for adult themes and erotic literature.

Walking Distance is different to Daryl and Rebecca. A lot more is from Daryl's perspective and his internal monologue. Chapter one is up now, so if you need some more Wellficme fiction, go find it.

I look forward to hearing from you all. Xo.

- Wellficme.

p.s. This story might be closed but I still keep an eye on the reviews. It's never too late to say something. I always love hearing from you guys.


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